DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Council/Social Housing

Bob Russell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what action he has taken since May 1997 to encourage local authorities to build council houses.

John Prescott: The ODPM five year plan Homes for All" set out three ways in which local authorities can be involved in delivering new social housing:
	The expanded PFI;
	funding building by housing associations; and,
	bidding in partnership with private developers for funding from the Housing Corporation.
	We expect the first of these to produce at least 6000 homes by 2008 worth around £500 million through a combination of new build and estate remodelling.

Council/Social Housing

Kitty Ussher: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the level of public funding for social housing was in (a) 2005 and (b) 1997.

Yvette Cooper: Government housing capital investment totalled £4.5 billion in 2004–05 and £1.8 billion in 1997–98.
	These figures include £2.9 billion in 2004–05 and £1.1billion in 1997–98 made available to local authorities mainly for the maintenance and improvement of existing council housing, and £1.6 billion in 2004–05 and £0.7billion in 1997–98 to registered social landlords (via the Housing Corporation) mainly to increase the supply of new social homes.

Telecommunications Masts

Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans he has to review planning policy relating to telecommunications masts.

Yvette Cooper: We are currently commissioning research on the future need for communications masts. This will help inform the General Permitted Development Order review which is looking at permitted development rights for mobile phone masts. We also commissioned a review of the code of best practice on mobile phone network development which will be published shortly.

Affordable Housing (South-East)

Laura Moffatt: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what progress he is making in ensuring that affordable housing is available in the South East.

Yvette Cooper: Proposals for the use of the housing investment funds available to the South East for 2006–07 and 2007–08 were submitted by the Regional Housing Board in July. These proposals, which have been approved, involve a significant increase in funding for affordable housing.
	The greater provision of affordable housing is dependent on improved levels of housing supply. Government are therefore working with local authorities to make sure that housing completion rates are built to planned levels. It will announce how it intends to respond to the recommendations of the Barker report later this year.

Roadside Advertising

Ben Chapman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what recent representations he has received from members of the public concerning roadside advertising.

Yvette Cooper: Since May 2005, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has received correspondence concerning roadside advertisements from 20 Members of Parliament on behalf of their constituents and about 175 representations from members of the public.

Key Worker Living Scheme

Barbara Follett: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the effects of the key worker living scheme on recruitment and retention of public sector workers.

Yvette Cooper: An evaluation of the key worker living scheme is currently underway, with the final report due in 2006. However, early interim findings published by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister on 31 August found that the scheme is making a positive contribution towards improving recruitment and retention of key workers, such as teachers, nurses and police.

Council Tax

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much revenue was raised in council tax in England in each year since its creation; and what the estimated figure is for 2005–06.

Phil Woolas: I refer the hon. Member to the answers Igave on 16 June 2005, Official Report, column 542W and on 10 October 2005, Official Report, columns 383–5W.

Council Tax

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what role (a) the Valuation Office Agency played in the council tax revaluation in Wales and (b) is planned for the Agency in a future council tax revaluation in England; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: (a) In accordance with their statutory duty, under Local Government Finance Act 1992 (as amended by Local Government Act 2003), the Valuation Office Agency's listing officers in Wales compiled the new valuation lists for each billing authority, effective from 1 April 2005, by placing 1.3 million properties into the new council tax bands.
	(b) The Valuation Office Agency's listing officers in England currently have a statutory duty, under Local Government Finance Act 1992, to compile and maintain the council tax lists for each billing authority area. The Government has no proposals for any change in that role, but has announced that the revaluation planned for 2007 is to be postponed and is bringing forward legislation to give that statutory effect.

Council Tax

David Davies: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what estimate he has made of the likely cost of the council tax rebanding exercise in England.

Phil Woolas: The postponement of council tax revaluation in England, which the Government announced on 20 September, means a suspension of the existing programme of preparatory work for the 2007 revaluation by the Valuation Office Agency. It is not possible at this stage to estimate exactly what the costs of revaluation will be at that future date. This will need to be reviewed in the light of the Government's decisions, following the report of the extended Lyons Inquiry into local government funding.

Council Tax

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether the Valuation Office Agency will continue to work on the council tax revaluation in England.

Phil Woolas: The Government announced on 20 September 2005 the postponement of the council tax revaluation in England in 2007 and the standing down of preparatory work. The Valuation Office Agency are reviewing in the light of this announcement what steps should be taken to capitalise on their preparatory work to date.

Departmental Bodies

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list (a) public relations consultancies and (b) public affairs consultancies employed by (i) the Audit Commission and (ii) the Standards Board for England in each year since 2001.

Phil Woolas: I will ask the chief executives of the Audit Commission and the Standards Board for England to write to the hon. Member with the information requested. Their responses will be placed in the Library of the House.

Departmental Websites

Sarah Teather: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the value for money of his Department's website; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The ODPM website was procured as the result of a fair and open competition. In awarding the contract all tenders were evaluated and the successful tender was deemed to have achieved the best balance on price and satisfying the detailed requirements criteria.
	I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 17 October 2005, Official Report, column 806W. Unique visitors to the ODPM website have more than doubled since its launch. The website also helps ODPM to fulfil its commitment to Freedom of Information, with more than 300 publications and nearly 300 press releases and statements uploaded to the website in 2004–05. ODPM is therefore continuing to develop the corporate website as a value for money channel for government information.

Electricity Spending

Tim Loughton: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much each departmental site has spent on electricity in each year since 2001.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister was formed in May 2002 and the following figures reflect this.
	
		£
		
			 Electricity spend by site 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 
		
		
			 Ashdown House (HQ) 201,523 202,579 241,463 
			 Eland House (HQ) 167,505 239,538 276,101 
			 Hempstead House (HQ) (1)— 8,123 8,953 
			 Planning Inspectorate 105,941 119,960 117,047 
			 Queen Elizabeth II CC 228,636 330,450 416,173 
			 Fire Service College 128,000 143,840 181,925 
			 The Rent Service 100,013 188,204 (2)— 
			  931,618 1,232,694 1,241,662 
		
	
	(1)Not known.
	(2)The Rent Service transferred to The Department for Works and Pensions in April 2004.
	This answer does not include figures for 26 Whitehall, which is managed by the Cabinet Office, and for which the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister pays an agreed proportion of the cost of all services supplied by the Cabinet Office.
	The figures for 2004–05 have yet to be independently verified by DEFRA and therefore should be considered as provisional.
	This answer does not include the buildings occupied by Government Offices, who carry out functions on behalf of 10 Government Departments.

Energy Efficiency

Tim Loughton: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what energy-saving measures he has implemented in his Department since it was established.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) has implemented a wide range of energy saving measures since its inception in May 2002.
	These include an energy awareness campaign for staff and improved monitor ring and targeting of energy use and benchmarking as well as physical measures such as:
	Implementing variable speed drives to supply and extract fans
	Lowering the temperature setting of main boilers controls
	Improved building management controls
	Improved lighting controls in office space
	Providing timers for hot water boilers and empty refrigerated display units to reduce out of hours electrical consumption
	We have worked with the Carbon Trust in the past year to use their expertise to identify both short and medium term projects to improve our use of energy, promote more efficient use of energy and reduce our CO 2 emissions. These plans will be implemented and progress monitored.

Local Authority Expenditure

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the revenue expenditure of each local authority in England was in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Phil Woolas: Revenue expenditure in 2004–05 by local authority in England can be found on the ODPM website at: http://www.localodpm.gov.uk/finance/stats/revenue.htm.
	Data are not available for a small number of local authorities as their returns were invalid at the time of processing the 2004–05 data. Final data are expected to become available towards the end of 2005.
	A table has been placed in the House Library showing revenue expenditure for each local authority in 2003–04.

Local Government Ombudsman

Anne Milton: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what representations he has received about reform of the Local Government Ombudsman over the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: The Office has received around 50 representations relating to the work of the Local Government Ombudsman over the past 12 months. We do not keep records of the precise nature of the representations received. This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Local Government Pensions

Andrew Smith: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on progress of the negotiations on the Local Government Pension Scheme.

Phil Woolas: Good progress is being made by the local authority employers and trade unions, within the framework of the Local Government Pension Scheme Tripartite Committee, to determine what further amendments are necessary to the scheme, so that, in light of my statement of 13 July 2005, Official Report, columns 30–31WS, its on-going affordability and viability can be ensured by April 2006. A further meeting of the Tripartite Committee is scheduled for 2 November.

Local Government Pensions

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what estimate has been made of the funding shortfall in local authorities pension funds in England.

Phil Woolas: The actuarial valuation of the local authority pension funds in England carried out on 31 March 2004, showed that the assets of £80 billion represented 75 per cent. of the total scheme liabilities of £107 billion. Each scheme administering authority has in place a funding strategy to manage and recover fund deficits.

Maladministration

Anne Milton: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister which local authorities have been found guilty of maladministration in each of the past 10 years.

Phil Woolas: The information requested is provided in the annual reports of the Local Government Ombudsman, copies of which are placed in the Library of the House.

Public Toilets

Vincent Cable: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister 
	(1)  what discussions his Department has had with the British Toilet Association on the subject of toilets in public places; and what the outcome was of those discussions;
	(2)  what steps he plans to take to encourage local authorities to provide and maintain a suitable quantity and quality of toilets in public places;
	(3)  if he will introduce legislation to oblige local authorities to maintain a basic provision of public toilets;
	(4)  what regulations are in place stipulating (a) standards of cleanliness in and (b) maintenance, of public toilets;
	(5)  what regulations are in place relating to the quantity and quality of public toilets required for disabled people.

Phil Woolas: I met with the British Toilet Association on 11 October to discuss methods of disseminating good practice in public toilet provision. It was agreed that the BTA would work with ODPM to promote guidance, including examples of best practice, as part of the 'How To Manage Town Centres' guide produced under the Cleaner Safer Greener Communities cross-Government initiative led by ODPM. The Government will also consider with the BTA ways in which access to toilets in public places can be further encouraged, but will not be introducing legislation to impose a duty on local authorities.
	The standards of cleanliness in and maintenance of public toilets are a matter of public health and are therefore subject to public health regulation. The design of public toilets required for disabled people is regulated by Part M of the Building Regulations, which specifies overall design, layout, fixtures and fittings of toilets suitable for use by disabled people. The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 places a duty on service providers to make reasonable adjustments to the physical features of a building which make accessing a service impossible or unreasonably difficult for disabled people. There is no duty on central Government to monitor the availability or standards of public toilet provision for disabled people.

South West Regional Assembly

Martin Horwood: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans he has for elections to the South West Regional Assembly.

Yvette Cooper: The Government has no plans for elections to the South West Regional Assembly.

Volunteering

Nick Gibb: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many volunteering positions his Department has offered in each of the last five years.

Jim Fitzpatrick: ODPM was created in May 2002 and hence our answer can only cover the period between that date and the present.
	ODPM allows staff to take special leave with pay to participate in a range of voluntary/public services in accordance with the organisations staff handbook. However, the information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	In terms of bringing in volunteers to the organisation, ODPM does not currently use volunteers to deliver its services within its Head Office.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Agricultural Land

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate she has made of recent trends in the value of agricultural land.

Jim Knight: The following table shows estimated agricultural land prices in England for the last 10 years. These are derived from data for all sales of agricultural land in England and give an indication of the trend in land values. They exclude land sold for non-agricultural purposes and sales of less than five hectares.
	
		England agricultural land prices
		
			  £ per hectare 
		
		
			 1995 4,788 
			 1996 6,058 
			 1997 6,448 
			 1998 6,134 
			 1999 6,673 
			 2000 7,082 
			 2001 7,406 
			 2002 6,896 
			 2003 7,023 
			 2004 7,745

Animal Husbandry

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what percentage of male cattle she estimates were shot within one month of birth in the last period for which figures are available.

Ben Bradshaw: No official statistics are available on the number of male animals under one month old disposed of on farm. Based on estimates of numbers of male dairy calves produced in 2004 (roughly 480,000) it is estimated that approximately 80 per cent. were disposed of on farm.

Avian Influenza

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what surveillance and protection measures are in place to deal with a potential outbreak of avian influenza; and if she will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: The Government has significantly enhanced the arrangements for surveillance of wild birds, including the investigation of die-offs and sampling at shoots and wetlands. The arrangements have been agreed as part of co-ordinated efforts across the European Union. The EU has also banned all imports of birds and poultry-related products, except processed feathers, from countries affected by highly pathogenic avian influenza. Her Majesty's Customs and Revenue are enhancing checks of luggage of passengers travelling from Romania and Turkey. The Government is well-prepared to manage an outbreak of avian influenza with a published detailed contingency plan in place.

Avian Influenza

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much the Department has spent on research into avian influenza in each of the last five years.

Ben Bradshaw: Over the last five years the Department has doubled the amount invested into research activity on avian influenza, from £226,000 during 2001–02, to £463,000 budgeted during 2005–06.
	
		£000
		
			 Financial year Budget 
		
		
			 2001–02 226 
			 2002–03 227 
			 2003–04 234 
			 2004–05 382 
			 2005–06 463

Avian Influenza

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the symptoms of avian influenza are; and how they differ in different domestic species.

Ben Bradshaw: Avian influenza is a highly contagious disease affecting the respiratory, digestive and/or nervous system of many species of birds. The general symptoms may include loss of appetite, diarrhoea, generalised weakness, swelling of the face and legs, conjunctivitis, nasal discharge, blue discolouration of the skin or membranes, a drop in egg production, sneezing, coughing and laboured respiration. In disease caused by highly virulent types of virus, there may be no warning signs, with birds either being found dead or dying suddenly. The presenting clinical signs in different domestic species are influenced by husbandry conditions (e.g. whether birds are housed or not) and by the presence of intercurrent bacterial or other viral diseases.

Avian Influenza

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate she has made of the number of vets who are qualified to identify avian influenza.

Ben Bradshaw: All veterinary surgeons should be competent to identify the signs associated with avian influenza and take any samples required for laboratory confirmation of disease. The state veterinary service trains all its veterinary staff in the recognition of clinical signs of exotic diseases, including avian influenza.
	The British Veterinary Association has circulated very comprehensive advice to its members to aid identification of suspect cases and this advice incorporates the views of specialist veterinarians working with poultry on a regular basis.

Avian Influenza

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the requirement for protective (a) clothing and (b) equipment for (i) poultry farmers and (ii) other keepers of birds to deal with avian influenza.

Ben Bradshaw: Worker protection and requirements for personal protective equipment are public health matters for the Health and Safety Executive, Department of Health and Health Protection Agency to advise on.
	This Department is however fully committed to ensuring that sound practical and risk based guidance is available to the keepers of poultry and other birds. A joint poultry industry and cross departmental working group, chaired by DEFRA, has been established and will publish guidance by the end of October.

Carbon Emissions

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether it remains Government policy that action to tackle climate change post-2012 should include mandatory national targets for reductions in carbon emissions.

Elliot Morley: The UK Government and the EU remain committed to the framework set out by the Kyoto protocol. It remains crucially important, as the first ever legally binding framework, to set quantified emissions reductions for developed countries. The UK Government and the EU want to build on the Kyoto protocol and its key elements such as targets and timetables, monitoring and reporting, compliance and the flexibility mechanisms for the period after 2012.
	In addition, on the basis of the European Commission's communication Winning the battle against global climate change" (February 2005) the European Council of Ministers concluded that the EU's future climate change strategy should:
	(a) Strive at the widest possible cooperation by all countries;
	(b) Include all important greenhouse gases, sectors and mitigation options;
	(c) Drive technological innovation, employing an optimal mix of push" and pull" policies, in particular in the transport and energy sector;
	(d) Promote the transfer of technologies to appropriate markets;
	(e) Provide for the continued use of market-based and flexible instruments, and;
	(f) Support the adaptation to unavoidable climate change in all countries, particularly in the most vulnerable developing countries.

Carbon Emissions

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she has taken to ensure the accuracy of the inventory of UK carbon emissions; and if she will make a statement on the different methodologies used.

Elliot Morley: The inventory of UK greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (including carbon dioxide) is compiled according to the guidance issued by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Accuracy checks on the UK inventory are conducted as follows:
	Inventory data compiled by our contractor are subject to an audited quality control and assurance programme. This ensures that the data sources are reliable and quality checked, that the choice of methodologies is transparent, that data are consistent over time, complete, comparable, and assessed for uncertainties. When required, methodological changes are made to take account of new data sources, or new guidance from the IPCC, relevant work by other international organisations, new research, or specific research programmes sponsored by Defra. Such improvements to the methodology are applied retrospectively to ensure a consistent time series of emissions.
	Defra periodically tests the accuracy of key source sector estimates in the national inventory by means of independent peer review. Reviews completed to date include carbon dioxide from fossil fuel combustion and agriculture. Defra also funds independent verification of the reliability of the emissions estimates by combining measurements of the concentrations of selected GHGs at Mace Head in Ireland and a model of atmospheric transport developed by the Met Office.
	Each year the GHG inventory is subject to annual reviews by trained expert reviewers working on behalf of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). These reviews are a thorough cross-check of the accuracy and reliability of country estimates, and are designed to underpin the integrity of the convention process and the Kyoto protocol.

Common Agricultural Policy

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list the representations she has received concerning the effect of Common Agricultural Policy subsidy reductions on sugar cane on the sugar cane industry in Swaziland.

Jim Knight: In February of this year the then Minister for Food and Farming, Lord Whitty, met the Prime Minister of Swaziland to discuss the reform of the EU sugar regime and its impact on Swaziland. The Secretary of State, in her capacity as President of the EU Agriculture Council, has chaired a meeting between the Agriculture Council and representatives of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (ACPs) and the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) in Brussels on 19 September. Swaziland was represented at that meeting at ministerial level. Several meetings have taken place with ACP representatives to discuss sugar reform at both ministerial and Official level.
	The Secretary of State has also received a letter from the Chief Executive Officer of the Swaziland Sugar Association concerning the proposed reforms of the EU sugar regime. In addition DEFRA has received several letters concerning the reforms from ACP countries collectively and received a large number of letters from members of the public concerned about development issues arising from the proposed reforms.

Dog Registration

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will implement a dog registration scheme to fund stray animal care.

Ben Bradshaw: We have no plans to introduce a dog registration scheme. Funding for stray dogs will come from existing budgets and those received from the police, as well as dog owners themselves. Dog owners are required to pay £25 on top of the cost accrued for maintaining their dog while in the custody of the local authority.

Environmentally Sensitive Areas Agreements

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the effects on farmers of the ending of the environmentally sensitive areas agreements.

Jim Knight: The Environmentally Sensitive Areas (ESA) scheme began in 1987 when farmers were offered 10-year agreements to protect and enhance the flora and fauna on their land. The Government have always encouraged farmers to enter into another agreement at the end of their existing 10-year agreement. The Environmental Stewardship (ES) scheme, introduced this year, comprises the new Entry Level Stewardship, which is open to all farmers in England, and the more targeted Higher Level Stewardship. Higher Level Stewardship will replace the ESA and Countryside Stewardship (CSS) schemes, which were closed to new applicants in 2004.
	Under ES, the Government will continue their policy of encouraging farmers to enter into new agreements when their previous ESA and CSS agreements expire. This year an additional one million hectares has already been brought into ES, bringing the total area in these schemes to 2.3 million hectares. The Government have also made available an extra £150 million a year for new ES agreements.

Flood Defences (Oxfordshire)

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the flood mitigation measures on Lakes H and I at Radley Lakes, Oxfordshire; and whether measures are planned to improve the operation of the sluice gates there.

Elliot Morley: The Environment Agency is the principal authority responsible for flood risk management in England and, as part of this, advises local planning authorities on flood risk with respect to planning applications.
	A private company—RWE npower—is responsible for managing these lakes and for any flood mitigation measures associated with them. The Agency recently advised Oxfordshire county council on flood risk with respect to a planning application from RWE npower relating to Lakes H and I.
	Following discussion with the Agency, RWE npower revised their proposal to address Agency concerns, specifically on the ability of the lakes to store flood water and the sizing of flood relief pipes to allow flood water to pass into the lakes at a suitable rate to alleviate flooding in the Radley area.
	The Agency is not aware of any proposal to alter operation of the sluice gates.

Foot and Mouth

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which countries undergoing a foot and mouth disease outbreak are subject to import control measures initiated by the UK; and if she will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: The rules for imports of meat are the subject of EU rules. Imports are not permitted from countries or areas of countries where foot and mouth disease (FMD) is endemic.
	The UK has not initiated any import control measures on any countries which are undergoing a foot and mouth disease outbreak, other than those initiated by the European Commission.
	Following a recent outbreak of FMD in Brazil, imports of bovine meat and offal from the regions of Mato Grosso do Sul, Parana, and Sao Paulo, have been banned.

Foot and Mouth Disease (Brazil)

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on reports of an outbreak of foot and mouth disease in Brazil; and what steps she is taking to restrict beef imports from that country.

Ben Bradshaw: holding answer 18 October 2005
	The Brazilian authorities reported an outbreak of foot and mouth disease on the 8 October 2005.
	The EU Commission advised member states of the outbreak in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso du Sol on 10 October 2005 and advised that a meeting to discuss a proposal to ban imports of meat and offal from the affected Brazilian States would be held on the 12 October 2005.
	We applied measures implementing the ban in line with the EU proposal on the 11 October 2005.
	Following discussion in Brussels on 12 October 2005 revised measures were agreed banning imports from Mato Grosso du Sol, Sao Paulo and Parana. We amended our measures to reflect these changes on 13 October 2005.

Foot and Mouth Disease (Brazil)

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which countries have suspended imports of Brazilian beef following the reported outbreak of foot and mouth in Brazil.

Ben Bradshaw: holding answer 18 October 2005
	All EU member states are taking the same action—banning the import of fresh de-boned and matured bovine meat and the offal from bovine animals from the Brazilian states of Mato Grosso du Sol, Sao Paulo and Parana.
	Other non EU countries will be aware of the situation in the Brazilian States and will be taking action of their own. However, we have no record of the actions taken by non EU countries.

Gamebirds

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will introduce legislation to ban the production of gamebirds for the purpose of shooting them for sport.

Ben Bradshaw: No.

Herbicides

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the impact on (a) farmers and (b) the environment of herbicide resistance in wild plants; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: Herbicide resistance in weeds and other wild plants can occur naturally over time as a response to exposure to certain herbicides. It is an agronomic problem well known to farmers, agronomists and the crop protection industry all over the world. Responsible use of herbicides can mitigate the problem.
	In the wider environment beyond the cropped areas of farms, herbicide tolerant weeds are not normally an issue as herbicides are not routinely used in such areas.
	The approval and use of herbicides is closely regulated to ensure protection of the environment.

Herbicides

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she is taking to prevent the spread of the herbicide tolerant gene found in charlock in the Government's farm-scale evaluation; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: Researchers from the Centre for Hydrology and Ecology were commissioned by Defra to monitor for gene flow between the GM crops grown in the farm-scale evaluations and wild plants. Over 60,000 charlock seeds and 700 charlock plants were checked. The researchers reported the possible finding of a single hybrid between oilseed rape and the wild plant charlock (the scientists were unable to confirm that it was in fact a hybrid). The researchers returned to the site the following year and found no trace of any charlock plants carrying the herbicide tolerant gene. This was to be expected as I am advised that even if a hybrid charlock plant existed it would be unlikely to produce fertile seed and would not persist.
	There are therefore no immediate implications of this research. The results of this study have been passed to the Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment and will be used along with other information in assessment of any future proposals to grow GM oilseed rape. We have also commissioned a review of the risks associated with the cultivation of herbicide tolerant oilseed rape, with emphasis on hybridization with wild relatives which is due for completion at the end of the year.

Incinerators

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to build and develop an incinerator in Dungeness; and if she will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: The Government encourage all local authorities to have in place a strategy for managing their municipal waste. However, it is for individual local authorities and not DEFRA to decide on the strategy that best suits their needs relating to waste and the particular waste management options (which may include generating energy from waste) employed within that strategy.

Newcastle Disease

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on how the recent outbreak of Newcastle Disease was dealt with.

Ben Bradshaw: The outbreak of Newcastle Disease in pheasants in Surrey in July 2005 was dealt with according to the published Defra Contingency Plan. A national disease control centre was established in London and a local disease control centre was set up in Reigate to manage the local response. The control policy was implemented quickly, the birds on the infected premises were culled, movement restrictions were imposed to limit the risk of disease spread and surveillance was carried out in the local area to detect any signs of disease. The outbreak was limited to one premises.
	Rapid exchanges of information with the French authorities identified the farms in France that had supplied birds to the infected premises. Newcastle Disease was subsequently confirmed on one premises in France and the authorities took appropriate action.
	Dialogue with the European Commission and other EU member states was maintained and there was close liaison with third countries to keep them up to date with developments and seek to minimise the impact on trade. The game bird and poultry industries and other stakeholders were kept fully informed. All restrictions on and around the infected premises have now been lifted.
	A report on lessons learned from the outbreak will be published in November.

Nuclear Waste

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the Government's policy is on storing nuclear waste.

Elliot Morley: The UK Government and devolved Administrations set up the independent Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM) in 2003, under the Managing Radioactive Waste Safely programme.
	The task for CoRWM is to recommend an option, or combination of options for the long-term management of the UK's higher level activity radioactive waste.
	CoRWM began its third phase of its Public and Stakeholder Engagement consultation programme in August 2005, assessing the four short-listed options:
	Deep geological disposal
	Phased deep geological disposal
	Near-surface disposal of short-lived waste
	Long-term interim storage
	CoRWM will provide its recommendations to Ministers, for their consideration, in July 2006.

Oceans

Linda Gilroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent advice she has received on ocean acidification and its impact on marine biodiversity and climate change.

Ben Bradshaw: holding answer 13 October 2005
	In June this year The Royal Society published a report on the potential problems of ocean acidification as a result of increased concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. This drew attention to the potential increase in acidity of the oceans which may occur over the next few centuries. This acidification has already been observed, although the full impacts on marine biodiversity are still relatively unknown.
	The Department, jointly with DTI, is actively funding research at the Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML) in the North Sea to investigate the potential impact of increased seawater acidity on shallow sea ecosystems, biodiversity and the health of key organisms, including their capacity to adapt. This will enable us to better understand and predict the consequences of the increasing acidity of seawater. Full details of all related research can be found on the DEFRA website (http://www2.defra.gov.uk/research/proiect_data/).
	The OSPAR Commission for the protection of the marine environment of the North East Atlantic has begun work on an assessment of the implications of increased carbon dioxide levels for our waters. The United Kingdom will be contributing to this work, drawing on the results of the Royal Society study and of the work at PML.
	In March 2005 my colleague, the Minister of State for Environment (Mr. Morley), launched a new partnership called the Marine Climate Change Information Partnership (MCCIP) to co-ordinate the evidence resulting from investigations into the impacts of climate change on our marine environment. Ocean acidification is one of the issues it intends to address.

Off-roading

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent representations she has received regarding (a) antisocial and (b) illegal off-roading by people with motorised vehicles.

Jim Knight: We have received a significant number of representations regarding the antisocial and illegal off-road use of motorised vehicles.
	There already exists a range of statutory powers that, when used as part of a co-ordinated strategy, can prove effective in dealing with the inappropriate use of motor vehicles off-road. The Government will shortly be issuing guidance to help the police and local authorities tackle motor vehicle misuse. The guidance will set out the range of powers already available and will draw on existing best practice examples of police and local authorities working in successful partnerships.
	Copies of this guidance will be placed in the Library of the House.

Organophosphates

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to reduce exposure to organophosphates, with particular reference to those involved in agriculture.

Ben Bradshaw: Organophosphates (OPs) are used in agriculture in both veterinary medicines and pesticides. All veterinary medicinal and plant protection products, including organophosphate products are subject to stringent regulatory control.
	The Government takes the safety of OPs very seriously and has funded a number of research projects into the effects in humans of exposure to OPs. Current research has concluded that there is insufficient evidence to support a link between chronic low-level exposure to OPs and ill health effects in humans. Some studies remain to be completed and the results of all the studies will be reviewed on their completion. We will also review our policy on OPs in light of these results.
	In addition to this Defra has funded Research and Development projects on the development of non-chemical alternatives for the control of sheep scab. The research into alternatives are complex long-term projects and if they do lead to the development of viable alternative products it is unlikely that such products will be available for at least five and probably 10 years.
	The Pesticides Safety Directorate also supports on-going R and D into less toxic and more environmentally benign alternatives for crop protection, either substituting for existing active ingredients or as part of broader Integrated Farm Management approaches. Again it will take some time before products based on this research are likely to be commercially available.
	In 1998 a UK review programme of organophosphates used as plant protection products was announced and 40 organophosphates were identified for review. Although companies supported 21, there are now only nine approved organophosphate active substances in about 60 products. Partly as a result of this programme there has been a significant decline, to about 25 per cent. of the 1994 levels, in the use of organophosphate plant protection products.
	Details of veterinary medicines and plant protection research can be found on the Defra www.defra.gov.uk website.
	Provided they are used according to their statutory conditions of use, plant protection products and veterinary medicines containing OPs should pose no unacceptable risk to operators, bystanders or consumers of the treated produce and as such there is no current scientific rationale for further restricting their use as a precautionary public health measure.

Scrapie

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on progress on the National Scrapie Plan.

Ben Bradshaw: The National Scrapie Plan continues to make good progress. The voluntary Ram Genotyping Scheme is continuing to recruit new members and there has been encouraging progress in improving genotype profiles in participating flocks. We are working to implement the Compulsory Ram Genotyping Scheme during 2006, taking into account the results of a strategic review last year. Targeted action in scrapie affected flocks is continuing in line with t he EU rules and we are taking the opportunity of discussions in Brussels of the Commission's TSE Roadmap to press for changes to the scheme.

Sewage Treatment

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much sewage was disposed in the Channel in each of the last five years; and what plans she has to develop sewage treatment facilities in East Sussex.

Elliot Morley: Information on the yearly volume of sewage disposed of in the English Channel (East Kent (Dover) to Cornwall) is not held centrally and could not be provided without disproportionate cost.
	Southern Water Services Limited, which provides sewerage services for East and West Sussex, Kent, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, estimates that 28.3 million m 3 of preliminary treated effluent is discharged from Brighton per year. Preliminary treatment means that the sewage passes through screens before discharge to the sea.
	Southern Water have applied for planning permission and discharge consents to upgrade the sewage treatment facilities serving Brighton to at least secondary treatment. When these are received we expect Southern Water to complete the approved sewage treatment scheme as soon as practicable.
	The estimated total volume of secondary treated effluent discharged directly to the English Channel and the Solent by Southern Water is 140.2 million m 3 per year. Secondary treatment is the normal standard of treatment that sewage receives before discharge.

Sheep Dip

Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what evaluation she has made of research by (a) UK organisations, (b) the UK Government and (c) other EU member states into alternatives to using cypermethrin in sheep dip.

Ben Bradshaw: The Government are aware of reports from the Environment Agency of environmental pollution incidents caused by the use of cypermethrin sheep dips. The Veterinary Medicines Directorate and Environment Agency are jointly working towards developing a pollution reduction plan. As part of this plan they recently held a meeting of various interested groups from farming organisations, environmental non-government organisations with interests in fishing and wildlife, sheep dip manufacturers, the wool scouring industry and NAWAD.
	The main alternatives to the use of cypermethrin sheep dips in the UK contain the active substance diazinon which is an organophosphate. These products have a record of known efficacy over many years. However, users must respect the recommended precautions to ensure their safe use.
	DEFRA has funded four research and development projects on the development of non-chemical alternatives for the control of sheep scab. All four of these projects have been completed and three continuation projects are currently being funded to develop further the advances made on immunological (vaccine) and biological (entomopathogenic fungi) control methods. These are complex long-term projects and if they do lead to the development of viable alternative products it is unlikely that such products will be available for at least five and probably 10 years. Details of this research can be found on the DEFRA (www.defra.gov.uk) and VMD (www.vmd.gov.uk) websites.
	The Government are not aware of any research by other UK organisations or EU member states into the alternatives to using cypermethrin in sheep dips.

Sheep Dip

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has for an alternatives to organophosphates for sheep dips; and what research the Department has funded on this.

Ben Bradshaw: Defra has funded four Research and Development projects on the development of non-chemical alternatives for the control of sheep scab. All four of these projects have been completed and three continuation projects are currently being funded to develop further the advances made on immunological (vaccine) and biological (entomopathogenic fungi) control methods. These are complex long term projects and if they do lead to the development of viable alternative products it is unlikely that such products will be available for at least five and probably 10 years.
	Details of this research can be found on the Defra (www.defra.gov.uk) and Veterinary Medicines Directorate (www.vmd.gov.uk) websites.

Veterinary Medicines

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she plans to introduce the recommendations in the Competition Commission's report on prescription-only veterinary medicines.

Ben Bradshaw: The Government carefully considered the recommendations made by the Competition Commission in their report on the supply of prescription-only medicines in the UK. Defra's formal response to these recommendations was issued on 9 July 2003 and is available on the Veterinary Medicines Directorate's (VMD) website (www.vmd.gov.uk) under Publications, General", 9 July 2003, Official Report, column 53WS.
	Those recommendations which were accepted by the Government have been carried forward within the recent comprehensive revision of the UK veterinary medicines legislation and the recommendations requiring changes to legislation on veterinary medicines are included in the Veterinary Medicines Regulations 2005 (SI 2745) that are due to come into force on 30 October 2005.
	The recommendation that a review of distribution classifications of marketing authorisations has been addressed by a three month public consultation from 27 July 2005 requesting interested parties to submit cases for the review of the classification of individual products or product groups. The consultation closes on 19 October and all interested parties will be consulted again on proposals to change any product's distribution category. Details of the consultation are available on the VMD website under Consultations, Current".

Volunteering

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many volunteering positions her Department has offered in each of the last five years.

Jim Knight: DEFRA currently offers all staff one day's paid special leave each year for volunteering. However, central records are not kept of staff who apply for special leave for this purpose. Consequently, to provide the information requested would incur disproportionate cost.
	DEFRA encourages its staff to volunteer in their own time, either with charities or with voluntary community organisations in their own area as this helps to support the Departments main aim: Sustainable Development.
	DEFRA's internal website includes links to a number of organisations with which the Department has had contact or with which staff are currently already volunteering. The list of organisations will be added to in the future.

Water

Charles Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what measures she is taking to (a) reduce water abstraction and (b) increase river flows during the summer months; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: The Environment Agency is the statutory body with a duty to manage water resources in England and Wales. The principal mechanism for achieving sustainable management and development of water resources is through the Agency's system of abstraction licensing.
	Many abstraction licences will have a condition thatmeans abstraction must cease if the river flow or depth falls below a specified value. In addition the Environment Agency can place a ban on abstractions by spray irrigators, if this becomes necessary.
	My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State, can make a drought order, on application by the Environment Agency or a water undertaker, which contains powers to reduce abstractions by third parties to ensure that supplies can be maintained.

Water

Charles Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to build new reservoirs in the (a) East and (b) South East of England; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: In fulfilment of their duties to maintain adequate supplies of water, several water companies in southern England propose to enlarge existing reservoirs or construct new ones. These proposals were set out in the 25 year water resources plans they prepared in 2004. The Environment Agency has advised Ministers about the appropriateness of these proposals and other measures to ensure security of supply, in its report Maintaining water supply", which was published in July 2004. The Department has no plans to build reservoirs.

Water

Charles Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what measures are in place to ensure the water needs of the (a) East and (b) South East of England are met; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: The Environment Agency is the statutory body with a duty to manage water resources in England and Wales. As part of the Agency's management role it has national and regional water resource strategies which set out the pressures over the next 25 years.
	Water companies have duties to maintain adequate supplies of water. They have 25 year water resource plans which complement the Agency strategies and seek to reconcile supply with anticipated demand. These water resource plans are produced voluntarily, every five years, at present but will become a statutory requirement under the provisions of the Water Act 2003.

Water

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs who is responsible for protecting water supplies from tampering; and what measures are taken to do so.

Elliot Morley: Water companies are responsible for protecting the public water supply. Their installations and facilities have security precautions in place to protect the treated water supply from tampering and these are continually reviewed by the companies. They also have plans to cater for all types of emergency situations including contamination of supply. It is not the policy of the Department to disclose details of these arrangements or any procedures relating to national security.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Antisocial Behaviour

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures he proposes for dealing with antisocial behaviour by children under 10 years.

Hazel Blears: The Government are determined to ensure that parents take full responsibility for their children's behaviour and are considering a range of measures to do so. We have no plans to introduce antisocial behaviour orders for those aged under 10.

Antisocial Behaviour

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many antisocial behaviour orders were issued in the Peterborough city council area in (a) 2002, (b) 2003 and (c) 2004.

Hazel Blears: The information requested is available on the Crime Reduction website at www.crimereduction.gov.uk

Antisocial Behaviour

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many anti-social behaviour orders have been issued in (a) Essex and (b) each police division in Essex in each of the last three years.

Hazel Blears: Available information is given in the table.
	Antisocial behaviour order data are not available by police division. A table giving a breakdown by the local government authority area in which prohibitions are imposed within orders is available on the Crime Reduction website at www.crimereduction.gov.uk
	
		Antisocial behaviour orders issued in Essex, as notified to the Home Office, by year
		
			  Number issued 
		
		
			 2002 2 
			 2003 13 
			 2004 37

Asylum

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what has been the average length of time to determine asylum appeals from the date of being lodged to the date of hearing for appeals lodged (a) before and (b) after 4 April 2005; and if he will make a statement.

Bridget Prentice: I have been asked to reply.
	The latest provisional information available from the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal (AIT) indicates that an asylum appeal lodged (a) before the 4 April 2005 took on average 33 weeks from first being lodged to a decision being promulgated by an Immigration Adjudicator of the Immigration Appellate Authority (IAA).
	Asylum appeals arising from a claim refused by the Home Office prior to the 4 April 2005 were lodged first, in accordance with the Tribunal's procedure rules, with the decision maker, before being transferred to the IAA to be determined by an Immigration Adjudicator.
	The latest provisional information available from the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal (AIT) indicates that an asylum appeal lodged (b) after the 4 April 2005 took on average five weeks from being lodged, to a decision being promulgated by an immigration judge of the AIT.
	Asylum appeals arising from a claim refused by the Home Office after the 4 April 2005 are lodged directly to the AIT in accordance with Rule 6 of The Asylum and Immigration Tribunal (Procedure) Rules 2005.

British Citizenship

David Gauke: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons who have been granted British citizenship since 1 January 2000 had, prior to the granting of British citizenship, been (a) found guilty of a criminal offence by a court in the United Kingdom and (b) sentenced to a custodial sentence by a court in the United Kingdom.

Tony McNulty: All persons applying for naturalisation as a British citizen are required to meet a good character requirement. As part of the naturalisation process a police record check is made into all applicants. A check is also made on older minors who are applying for registration at the Secretary of State's discretion. In assessing whether any previous criminal activity would affect a person's ability to meet the good character requirement, we would take into account the nature of the offence, the age of the offender and the length of time that had elapsed since conviction. If sufficient time free of further offending had not elapsed since the offence, the application would normally be refused.
	Between 1 January 2000 and 4 October 2005 765,833 applications for British citizenship have been decided. Of those, 4,947 were refused on character grounds.

Community Support Officers

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether it is Home Office policy that police community support officers are entitled to be issued with personal protective equipment including anti-stab vests.

Hazel Blears: holding answer 14 October 2005
	The issue of personal protective equipment to community support officers (CSOs) is an operational matter for chief officers. Guidance issued by the Association of Chief Police Officers recognises that the issue of body armour to CSOs has become commonplace and that forces should consider issue of this equipment in light of local health and safety assessments.

Crime Statistics

Paul Truswell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent estimate he has made of the levels of (a) violent crime, (b) car crime, (c) robbery and (d) burglary in Pudsey constituency; and if he will make a statement.

Hazel Blears: The Pudsey constituency comes within the Leeds Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership (CDRP). The current levels of recorded offences for the crimes requested are given in the table.
	
		Recorded crimes in the Leeds Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership (CDRP) area: 2004–05
		
			 Offence type Number 
		
		
			 Violence against the person 14,784 
			 Sexual offences(3) 823 
			 Robbery 1,202 
			 Violent crime 16,809 
			 Domestic burglary 9,441 
			 Vehicle crime 15,251 
		
	
	(3)The Sexual Offences Act 2003, introduced in May 2004, altered the definition and coverage of sexual offences.

Drug Addiction (Crime)

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment his Department has made of the proportion of crime undertaken as a direct consequence of drug addiction; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Goggins: Crime statistics used for monitoring overall crime trends, such as recorded crime and the British Crime Survey, do not contain information about the drug habits of individual offenders or their motivation for offending. It is therefore not possible to provide firm estimates of the total amount of crime undertaken as a direct consequence of addiction.
	Findings from the Home Office sponsored New English and Welsh Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring survey programme (NEW-ADAM), in which arrestees in custody suites in 16 high crime areas in England and Wales were interviewed and tested for drugs between 1999 and 2001, found that 38 per cent. of all arrestees included in the survey tested positive for opiates such as heroin, and/or cocaine/crack.
	Furthermore, more than one-third (35 per cent.) of all interviewed arrestees were problem drug users (i.e. they reported recent signs of dependence on one or more illicit drug types).
	Among those arrestees who reported recent drug dependence, 62 per cent. said that they were dependent on heroin.
	Four out of five interviewed arrestees reported the use of at least one illicit drug in the previous 12 months and nearly two-thirds of these drug users said they had committed an acquisitive crime, such as burglary, shoplifting or other theft, during the same period.
	Among those who used illicit drugs and had committed an acquisitive crime in the past year 60 per cent. overall said there was some link between their drug use and offending—this rose to 84 per cent. among crack users and 87 per cent. of heroin users. The findings from this study can be accessed via the Research Development and Statistics website at www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/drugs_new_adam.html
	A new Arrestee Survey is currently being undertaken which will provide more comprehensive and nationally representative information on the proportion of crime that is drug-related in the future.

Environmental Sustainability

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what remit relating to sustainable development is (a) required and (b) undertaken by bodies for which his Department is responsible; and if he will make a statement.

Andy Burnham: Advice on sustainable development will be issued shortly to Home Office-sponsored Executive and Advisory non-departmental public bodies (NDPB's) as part of a wider revision of central guidance. The advice will, among other things, explain that NDPBs must consider the responsibilities they have for meeting the Government's commitment to sustainable development. We currently do not collate information about the extent to which NDPBs incorporate sustainable development into their remit, but some do have environmental policies.

EU Travel Bans

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list individuals subject to an EU travel ban who have entered UK territory in the last three years.

Andy Burnham: This information is not held centrally and can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Firearms

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department in which regions of the United Kingdom are owners or keepers of soft airguns and low powered airguns, with an energy level in excess of one joule, required to hold a firearm certificate.

Hazel Blears: holding answer 14 October 2005
	There is no such requirement in Great Britain except for air weapons declared to be especially dangerous by rules made by the Secretary of State under section 53 of the Firearms Act 1968 i.e. air pistols with a muzzle energy in excess of six ft.lb or air rifles with a muzzle energy in excess of 12 ft.lb. The Act does not extend to Northern Ireland which has its own specific legislation

Firearms

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the HomeDepartment if he will assess the accountability of police forces in England and Wales in their use of firearms.

Hazel Blears: The use of lethal force by police officers is subject to the same requirements as for any other use of force. In general terms, the Criminal Law Act 1967 provides that the police may use such force as is reasonable in the circumstances to effect an arrest or to prevent crime. The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 also provides for the use of force when necessary in exercising any of the powers provided under that Act.
	Within the general framework of the law governing the use of force by the police, Chief Officers must have regard to the Statutory Code of Practice on the Police Use of Firearms and Less Lethal Weapons.
	The Code is made under the Police Acts of 1996 and 1997. The Code of Practice is backed up by a more detailed Manual of Guidance on Police Use of Firearms produced by the Association of Chief Police Officers which covers the more operational aspects of the use of firearms.

Firearms

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what changes are required to the laws banning the use of certain handguns in order to allow the relevant Olympic events to take place at the London 2012 Games.

Hazel Blears: No changes to the law are required to allow the pistol shooting events to take place at the Olympic Games to be hosted by London in 2012. The necessary arrangements can be made by issuing authorities under Section 5 of the Firearms Act 1968.

General Almog

Phyllis Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  whether his Department is proposing to take further action to effect the arrest of General Almog;
	(2)  whether his Department made a request to Interpol to circulate the arrest warrant for General Almog.

Andy Burnham: The arrest warrant was issued on 10 September. On 15 September the District Judge who issued the warrant withdrew it, noting that it had been issued on grounds of urgency, but once General Almog had left the UK, the urgency was removed. There is therefore no outstanding warrant for his arrest.

Illegal Immigrants

Humfrey Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of (a) private and (b) commercial vehicles entering the UK were searched by immigration officials at the (i) Hull, (ii) Dover, (iii)Portsmouth and (iv) Southampton ports of entry in the last period for which figures are available.

Tony McNulty: At Hull, Southampton, Portsmouth and juxtaposed locations with services arriving at Dover, manual searches of private cars are conducted by Immigration Service staff on a risk assessed, intelligence led basis. Figures are not collated on these checks.
	Commercial vehicles on services to Portsmouth, Southampton and Hull are screened by the port operator and carriers abroad. Figures are not available for these checks. On arrival in the UK screening of the vehicles by the Immigration Service is undertaken on a risk assessed intelligence led basis. 100 per cent. of commercial vehicles departing from juxtaposed locations to Dover are screened by the port operators on behalf of carriers using search technologies provided by the Immigration Service. Secondary checks are also conducted by Immigration Officers at juxtaposed locations on a risk assessed, intelligence led basis.

Licensing Hours

Charles Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what powers are available to the police to disperse youths in known troublespots; and if he will make a statement.

Hazel Blears: Section 30 of the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 gives the police a power to disperse groups who are causing or who are likely to cause intimidation, harassment, alarm or distress to others.
	These powers are limited to areas where anti-social behaviour is a significant and persistent problem and there is a history of members of the public causing intimidation, harassment, alarm or distress to others.
	If a superintendent is satisfied that these conditions have been met and he has gained the agreement of the local authority, he may give authorisation for this power to be used by an officer for a period of up to six months.

Parking Fines

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will collate and publish figures for (a) the income from parking fines and (b) the number of parking fines issued in each local authority area in England in each year since 1997.

Paul Goggins: Whilst information is not available centrally on the amount of income from parking fines, available information on court-imposed fines and fixed penalty notices issued by the police is given in the following tables. The information is broken down by police force area and relates to all offences of obstruction, waiting and parking in England during the calendar years 1997 to 2003 (latest available).
	Not all fines and fixed penalties will have been paid.
	Information for 2004 will be available early in 2006.Under the Road Traffic Act 1991, decriminalised parking enforcement (DPE) powers allow local authorities to take over responsibility for enforcing parking contraventions from police. Data on penalty charge notices (PCNs) from individual local authorities operating decriminalised parking enforcement was first published in the Home Office publication 'Offences relating to motor vehicles, England and Wales 2002 Supplementary tables'. The latest publication 2003 [Table 22(a)—22(b) refers] lists data by local authorities partaking in the scheme, a copy of which is available in the Library. This publication can also be accessed on the Home Office research development and statistics (RDS) website at:
	www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/index.htm
	
		Table A: Fixed penalty data by police force area for obstruction, waiting and parking offences1,2England 1997–2003 -- Number of tickets
		
			  1997 1998 1999 
			 Police force area Endorsable Non-endorsable Endorsable Non-endorsable Endorsable Non-endorsable 
		
		
			 Avon and Somerset 7 58,107 4 52,916 7 49,519 
			 Bedfordshire — 35,469 — 34,592 — 5,175 
			 Cambridgeshire 2 32,499 1 28,779 — 30,387 
			 Cheshire 3 32,257 4 30,182 3 25,922 
			 Cleveland — 21,700 2 22,864 1 18,633 
			 Cumbria 2 20,800 2 23,162 2 12,952 
			 Derbyshire 3 23,870 1 25,998 — 22,926 
			 Devon and Cornwall 4 80,531 2 84,877 5 77,906 
			 Dorset — 40,725  32,790 — 32,708 
			 Durham 1 15,040 2 15,912 — 12,140 
			 Essex 10 59,748 9 58,919 5 49,230 
			 Gloucestershire 1 33,417  31,067 1 28,467 
			 Greater Manchester 7 166,242 9 141,889 5 78,844 
			 Hampshire 5 70,475 7 66,249 8 50,937 
			 Hertfordshire 2 52,954 3 31,219 2 36,064 
			 Humberside 3 29,027 3 25,990 2 23,910 
			 Kent 11 65,033 5 58,707 5 48,753 
			 Lancashire 19 94,864 8 82,837 15 71,449 
			 Leicestershire 5 53,338 2 49,078 3 45,722 
			 Lincolnshire — 29,067 9 26,641 2 15,486 
			 London, City of — 666 — 1,109 3 725 
			 Merseyside 6 98,229 4 97,518 12 86,912 
			 Met Police 90 160,761 98 205,779 41 192,069 
			 Norfolk — 36,350 1 30,754 1 26,388 
			 Northamptonshire — 29,576 — 27,854 2 21,272 
			 Northumbria 7 47,592 3 45,653 8 39,865 
			 North Yorkshire 5 22,127 7 19,970 2 20,437 
			 Nottinghamshire 2 42,021 2 37,004 — 34,871 
			 South Yorkshire 4 28,256 7 30,847 11 26,694 
			 Staffordshire 11 26,445 9 27,459 4 21,256 
			 Suffolk 6 23,037 5 21,753 1 20,574 
			 Surrey 6 25,614 7 25,400 6 20,544 
			 Sussex 13 120,244 7 111,859 5 101,971 
			 Thames Valley 6 77,971 6 76,943 3 66,454 
			 Warwickshire 1 15,550 2 18,020 — 16,749 
			 West Mercia 4 26,221 4 26,138 2 26,688 
			 West Midlands 23 156,251 26 148,944 23 119,867 
			 West Yorkshire 10 69,608 7 63,556 5 60,337 
			 Wiltshire 5 16,025 2 15,452 1 12,896 
			 England 284 2,037,707 270 1,956,680 196 1,653,699 
		
	
	
		Number of tickets
		
			  2000 2001 2002 
			 Police force area Endorsable Non-endorsable Endorsable Non-endorsable Endorsable Non-endorsable 
		
		
			 Avon and Somerset 1 34,551 4 25,827 1 22,481 
			 Bedfordshire 2 3,485 — 2,991 — 3,602 
			 Cambridgeshire 1 32,675 1 33,286 — 32,237 
			 Cheshire 3 19,248 — 17,532 1 15,776 
			 Cleveland — 15,487 1 10,634 2 15,721 
			 Cumbria 3 5,857 — 5,758 3 2,384 
			 Derbyshire — 22,259 — 18,792 2 16,409 
			 Devon and Cornwall 3 77,874 3 59,407 4 59,631 
			 Dorset 3 31,256 — 25,500 — 8,034 
			 Durham 2 16,082 1 12,521 1 12,499 
			 Essex 6 40,656 1 29,772 1 23,534 
			 Gloucestershire 1 28,527 — 26,500 — 26,411 
			 Greater Manchester 3 71,056 2 43,381 3 34,820 
			 Hampshire 5 31,622 9 40,015 4 22,695 
			 Hertfordshire 3 32,574 3 32,709 — 27,054 
			 Humberside 4 26,594 3 25,701 2 26,504 
			 Kent 12 3,673 10 1,702 4 1,086 
			 Lancashire 6 64,929 6 55,992 4 47,729 
			 Leicestershire 3 37,987 3 39,885 3 41,651 
			 Lincolnshire 2 15,893 — 15,725 — 16,659 
			 London, City of — 438 2 511 — 741 
			 Merseyside 3 61,246 4 49,967 3 35,989 
			 Met Police 27 196,965 21 141,776 18 141,950 
			 Norfolk 2 25,337 — 23,880 3 10,135 
			 Northamptonshire — 12,874 — 7,988 — 4,457 
			 Northumbria 9 44,687 24 57,780 15 48,670 
			 North Yorkshire 2 13,529 — 14,435 1 9,435 
			 Nottinghamshire 2 31,525 — 24,515 — 13,387 
			 South Yorkshire 8 28,940 6 30,360 6 29,356 
			 Staffordshire 5 11,936 7 9,154 1 7,275 
			 Suffolk 2 20,837 — 18,953 1 20,439 
			 Surrey 4 21,431 1 22,961 4 25,040 
			 Sussex 6 119,765 5 71,966 1 47,515 
			 Thames Valley 4 51,917 5 37,409 6 34,605 
			 Warwickshire 1 13,801 — 15,355 — 16,556 
			 West Mercia 1 22,736 4 17,104 2 17,382 
			 West Midlands 17 88,137 18 64,030 10 46,436 
			 West Yorkshire 1 61,143 3 55,300 5 55,977 
			 Wiltshire 1 10,210 1 7,450 — 8,395 
			 England 158 1,449,739 148 1,194,524 111 1,030,657 
		
	
	
		Number of tickets
		
			  2003 
			 Police force area Endorsable Non-endorsable 
		
		
			 Avon and Somerset 14 17,638 
			 Bedfordshire — 2,235 
			 Cambridgeshire 1 22,459 
			 Cheshire 1 15,938 
			 Cleveland — 8,522 
			 Cumbria 2 1,814 
			 Derbyshire 2 15,779 
			 Devon and Cornwall 2 57,699 
			 Dorset — 635 
			 Durham — 5,668 
			 Essex 4 9,953 
			 Gloucestershire 1 27,703 
			 Greater Manchester — 27,964 
			 Hampshire 8 18,384 
			 Hertfordshire 1 9,216 
			 Humberside 1 25,503 
			 Kent 6 979 
			 Lancashire 8 31,771 
			 Leicestershire 1 31,023 
			 Lincolnshire — 18,563 
			 London, City of 3 678 
			 Merseyside 2 17,600 
			 Met Police 26 209,195 
			 Norfolk — 9,532 
			 Northamptonshire — 3,701 
			 Northumbria 21 30,418 
			 North Yorkshire — 5,670 
			 Nottinghamshire 1 6,634 
			 South Yorkshire 7 27,549 
			 Staffordshire 1 8,410 
			 Suffolk 14 20,183 
			 Surrey 5 16,125 
			 Sussex 2 46,181 
			 Thames Valley 4 24,781 
			 Warwickshire — 14,041 
			 West Mercia 3 12,451 
			 West Midlands 15 53,118 
			 West Yorkshire 2 54,176 
			 Wiltshire — 5,618 
			 England 158 915,507 
		
	
	(4)Offences under the Road Traffic Act 1988 s.22; Transport Act 2000 ss.173 (5); 173 (6); 173 (7); 174 (3); 175 (2); 175 (3); 175 (4); 190 Highway Act 1835 ss 72 and 78; RTA 1988 ss. 19 & 21; Highways Act 1980 s. 137 (1); Road Traffic Regulations Act 1984 ss. 5 (1), 8,32–36 and 45–53; Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) regulations 1986 Regs. 101 and 103; Transport Act 2000 Part III; Metropolitan Police Act 1839 s. 54 (1)
	(5)Does not include decriminalised parking enforcements (DPE).
	
		Table B: Court proceedings data for obstruction, waiting and parking offences(6)(5508180007) England 1997–2003Court proceedings(8)
		
			  1997 1998 
			 Police force area Total number of fines Total amount of fine (£) Average amount of fines (£) Total number of fines Total amount of fine (£) Average amount of fines (£) 
		
		
			 Avon and Somerset 399 27,251 68 302 14,555 48 
			 Bedfordshire 115 4,600 40 106 4,400 42 
			 Cambridgeshire 167 6,820 41 162 6,980 43 
			 Cheshire 272 10,928 40 270 9,989 37 
			 Cleveland 366 12,355 34 328 9,733 30 
			 Cumbria 128 5,050 39 117 4,475 38 
			 Derbyshire 324 12,728 39 438 21,010 48 
			 Devon and Cornwall 486 20,200 42 502 19,435 39 
			 Dorset 88 3,423 39 86 3,515 41 
			 Durham 22 780 35 71 3,035 43 
			 Essex 416 19,705 47 378 16,904 45 
			 Gloucestershire 145 6,350 44 120 3,890 32 
			 Greater Manchester 1,130 61,004 54 908 36,667 40 
			 Hampshire 119 5,026 42 158 6,984 44 
			 Hertfordshire 208 8,180 39 208 10,149 49 
			 Humberside 454 12,855 28 453 13,920 31 
			 Kent 302 13,651 45 304 10,374 34 
			 Lancashire 504 24,705 49 532 23,460 44 
			 Leicestershire 202 8,895 44 190 9,120 48 
			 Lincolnshire 71 2,470 35 82 3,375 41 
			 London, City of 78 7,913 101 77 15,285 199 
			 Merseyside 456 16,220 36 993 44,488 45 
			 Met Police 2,208 429,315 194 2,785 307,948 111 
			 Norfolk 113 3,535 31 76 2,740 36 
			 Northamptonshire 463 23,310 50 440 23,175 53 
			 Northumbria 295 10,754 36 248 10,878 44 
			 North Yorkshire 80 3,687 46 69 2,655 38 
			 Nottinghamshire 258 9,227 36 216 8,903 41 
			 South Yorkshire 222 9,095 41 195 8,417 43 
			 Staffordshire 141 6,470 46 173 9,196 53 
			 Suffolk 435 13,735 32 355 11,855 33 
			 Surrey 91 4,225 46 67 2,630 39 
			 Sussex 251 9,249 37 392 13,606 35 
			 Thames Valley 357 13,074 37 339 14,610 43 
			 Warwickshire 161 7,810 49 68 3,440 51 
			 West Mercia 449 21,945 49 548 22,901 42 
			 West Midlands 834 34,183 41 962 42,376 44 
			 West Yorkshire 350 15,189 43 531 22,090 42 
			 Wiltshire 185 7,290 39 254 9,751 38 
			 England 13,345 913,202 68 14,503 808,914 56 
		
	
	
		Court proceedings(8)
		
			  1999 2000 
			 Police force area Total number of fines Total amount of fine (£) Average amount of fines (£) Total number of fines Total amount of fine (£) Average amount of fines (£) 
		
		
			 Avon and Somerset 322 20,427 63 247 15,362 62 
			 Bedfordshire 45 1,900 42 18 1,211 67 
			 Cambridgeshire 112 4,685 42 92 3,165 34 
			 Cheshire 172 6,851 40 129 5,844 45 
			 Cleveland 283 9,625 34 277 10,050 36 
			 Cumbria 109 5,538 51 63 3,805 60 
			 Derbyshire 459 21,390 47 353 16,450 47 
			 Devon and Cornwall 553 19,110 35 386 14,460 37 
			 Dorset 78 3,720 48 84 3,650 43 
			 Durham 120 5,680 47 165 7,050 43 
			 Essex 491 20,911 43 334 19,925 60 
			 Gloucestershire 430 18,332 43 738 27,323 37 
			 Greater Manchester 637 25,371 40 392 17,133 44 
			 Hampshire 140 5,384 38 100 3,900 39 
			 Hertfordshire 309 18,906 61 395 25,265 64 
			 Humberside 303 9,161 30 125 3,610 29 
			 Kent 175 7,460 43 84 6,461 77 
			 Lancashire 531 20,577 39 446 15,532 35 
			 Leicestershire 241 10,817 45 181 7,120 39 
			 Lincolnshire 68 2,516 37 49 1,530 31 
			 London, City of 67 11,580 173 103 26,427 257 
			 Merseyside 642 23,997 37 395 16,516 42 
			 Met Police 3,045 367,928 121 3,002 435,821 145 
			 Norfolk 63 2,840 45 61 2,295 38 
			 Northamptonshire 567 30,157 53 463 26,560 57 
			 Northumbria 283 10,820 38 225 7,990 36 
			 North Yorkshire 78 3,585 46 69 3,155 46 
			 Nottinghamshire 152 6,289 41 152 7,890 52 
			 South Yorkshire 197 13,875 70 130 5,765 44 
			 Staffordshire 113 5,587 49 37 1,940 52 
			 Suffolk 343 12,785 37 313 10,825 35 
			 Surrey 104 4,096 39 62 2,480 40 
			 Sussex 429 15,137 35 493 16,945 34 
			 Thames Valley 298 13,540 45 311 14,952 48 
			 Warwickshire 153 5,090 33 142 6,910 49 
			 West Mercia 652 34,195 52 463 22,450 48 
			 West Midlands 936 44,102 47 612 28,644 47 
			 West Yorkshire 686 30,310 44 509 26,186 44 
			 Wiltshire 293 12,142 41 294 20,575 70 
			 England 14,679 886,416 60 12,584 893,172 71 
		
	
	
		Court proceedings(8)
		
			  2001 2002 
			 Police force area Total number of fines Total amount of fine (£) Average amount of fines (£) Total number of fines Total amount of fine (£) Average amount of fines (£) 
		
		
			 Avon and Somerset 222 20,114 91 239 22,540 94 
			 Bedfordshire 16 820 51 12 645 54 
			 Cambridgeshire 113 4,495 40 109 5,925 54 
			 Cheshire 232 9,385 40 164 7,720 47 
			 Cleveland 465 16,300 35 360 13,300 37 
			 Cumbria 38 2,190 58 56 3,610 64 
			 Derbyshire 310 16,675 54 299 16,635 56 
			 Devon and Cornwall 465 19,295 41 357 16,252 46 
			 Dorset 465 19,295 41 65 3,370 52 
			 Durham 136 6,200 46 77 7,145 93 
			 Essex 224 12,238 55 286 18,727 65 
			 Gloucestershire 770 32,191 42 814 30,450 37 
			 Greater Manchester 470 22,802 49 299 12,960 43 
			 Hampshire 108 5,100 47 81 4,315 53 
			 Hertfordshire 184 13,620 74 140 9,550 68 
			 Humberside 83 3,350 40 160 6,225 39 
			 Kent 24 1,970 82 21 1,500 71 
			 Lancashire 442 20,835 47 606 25,465 42 
			 Leicestershire 481 17,666 37 1,018 61,865 61 
			 Lincolnshire 108 4,480 41 137 5,835 43 
			 London, City of 19 3,420 180 26 3,755 144 
			 Merseyside 745 30,485 41 372 14,825 40 
			 Met Police 2,400 363,471 151 2,374 353,392 149 
			 Norfolk 115 4,707 41 126 8,916 71 
			 Northamptonshire 152 9,775 64 18 985 55 
			 Northumbria 274 11,635 42 256 10,525 41 
			 North Yorkshire 92 4,350 47 56 2,620 47 
			 Nottinghamshire 208 10,065 48 294 17,200 59 
			 South Yorkshire 206 9,870 48 217 10,835 50 
			 Staffordshire 23 1,245 54 21 1,685 80 
			 Suffolk 274 10,590 39 378 15,405 41 
			 Surrey 66 3,671 56 67 3,970 59 
			 Sussex 447 15,883 36 129 5,615 44 
			 Thames Valley 459 39,350 86 254 11,715 46 
			 Warwickshire 156 8,265 53 166 9,330 56 
			 West Mercia 494 24,071 49 373 20,390 55 
			 West Midlands 338 16,841 50 315 13,785 44 
			 West Yorkshire 548 21,827 40 563 21,247 38 
			 Wiltshire 152 10,678 70 174 13,603 78 
			 England 12,524 849,220 68 11,479 813,832 71 
		
	
	
		Court Proceedings(8)
		
			  2003 
			 Police force area Total number of fines Total amount of fine (£) Average amount of fines (£) 
		
		
			 Avon and Somerset 110 9,445 86 
			 Bedfordshire 75 4,020 54 
			 Cambridgeshire 98 5,445 56 
			 Cheshire 47 2,260 48 
			 Cleveland 322 11,045 34 
			 Cumbria 45 2.905 65 
			 Derbyshire 349 18,575 53 
			 Devon and Cornwall 300 14,068 47 
			 Dorset 4 235 59 
			 Durham 43 2,040 47 
			 Essex 149 9.820 66 
			 Gloucestershire 845 30,755 36 
			 Greater Manchester 376 16,990 45 
			 Hampshire 64 3,740 58 
			 Hertfordshire 96 6,753 70 
			 Humberside 214 8,410 39 
			 Kent 14 780 56 
			 Lancashire 576 23,138 40 
			 Leicestershire 1,818 105,285 58 
			 Lincolnshire 185 7,860 42 
			 London, City of 19 1,635 86 
			 Merseyside 168 8,539 51 
			 Met Police 2,363 346,848 147 
			 Norfolk 109 7,678 70 
			 Northamptonshire 26 1,863 72 
			 Northumbria 210 9,640 46 
			 North Yorkshire 21 890 42 
			 Nottinghamshire 21 890 42 
			 South Yorkshire 194 10,365 53 
			 Staffordshire 32 3,000 94 
			 Suffolk 369 16,428 45 
			 Surrey 95 5,960 63 
			 Sussex 116 5.083 44 
			 Thames Valley 325 17,830 55 
			 Warwickshire 257 14,370 56 
			 West Mercia 296 17,816 60 
			 West Midlands 279 13,290 48 
			 West Yorkshire 624 33,865 54 
			 Wiltshire 185 22,174 120 
			 England 11,436 821,733 72 
		
	
	(6)Offences under the Road Traffic Act 1988 s.22; Transport Act 2000 ss.173 (5); 173 (6); 173 (7); 174 (3); 175 (2); 175 (3); 175 (4); 100 Highway Act 1835 ss 72 and 78; RTA 1988 ss. 19 and 21: Highways Act 1980 s. 137 (1); Road Traffic Regulations Act 1984 ss. 5 (1), 8, 32–36 and 45–53; Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) regulations 1986 Regs. 101 and 103; Transport Act 2000 Part III; Metropolitan Police Act 1839 s. 54 (1).
	(7)Does not include decriminalised parking enforcements (DPE).
	(8)Includes cases where fixed penalty notices were originally issued but not paid and subsequently referred to court.

Passport Control

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the procedures are for the identification of an entrant at passport control who is wearing a burka or other face-covering apparel.

Andy Burnham: holding answer 18 October 2005
	In accordance with the Immigration Act 1971 all persons arriving in the United Kingdom must produce a valid passport or other document satisfactorily establishing their nationality and identity and immigration officers are required to verify that they are the rightful holders of the document presented.
	Where there are cultural or sensitive reasons such as facial disfigurement which would cause difficulties for the individual in showing their face at the immigration control, an immigration officer will make arrangements for that person to be taken to a separate room where, particularly in the case of Muslim women, a female officer will ask them to lift their veil. People are usually content to do this but there are powers to refuse entry to persons who cannot be satisfactorily identified.

Passports

Alan Reid: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on what basis the fees charged for transferring indefinite leave to remain stamps (No Time Limit) from former to current passports of citizens of other countries living in the United Kingdom for (a) the standard service and (b) the same-day Premium service were set.

Andy Burnham: The postal (standard) fee of £160 for transferring indefinite leave to remain from former to current passports was set to recover the full cost of delivering the service. The process to produce the permit, which replaced the old stamp, is complex consisting of several stages incorporating many security aspects. The premium fee of £500 was set for all application types made in person at Public Enquiry Offices and was also set on a full cost recovery basis.

Police Force Restructuring

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will consider proposals for joint co-operation between police forces rather than full mergers as part of the consultation exercise on police force restructuring.

Hazel Blears: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has asked chief officers and police authorities to submit proposals for restructuring by the end of the year. The Home Secretary has made clear that any proposals submitted, including any based on joint co-operation, must be ones that design in capacity and resilience to deliver, through an integrated framework, both protective services and neighbourhood policing to national standards and in the quickest possible time scales. He has also emphasised that he fully endorses HM inspectorate of constabulary's conclusion that the creation of strategic forces offers the best business solution.

Runaway Children

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make an assessment of the Children's Society claim that a national network of refuges is required to support runaway children.

Maria Eagle: I have been asked to reply.
	The Government is looking at the best way to deliver services that support young runaways and whether or not refuges—either through a national network or as a local response—should be part of our approach.
	To help us in this, we are running six projects that aim to test out how best we can provide safe, flexible and responsive community based services that can be easily incorporated into mainstream children's services. Two of these projects are testing a refuge based approach.
	These projects are due to finish in March 2006 and we will consider the findings from these carefully, alongside other research evidence on runaways including from the Children's Society.

Sex Abuse Claims

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  if he will make a statement on the validation process for individual claims for compensation from claimants alleging historical sex abuse;
	(2)  whether the validation process for claimants of compensation alleging historical sex abuse include (a) proof under oath, affirmation or equivalent, (b) the opportunity to challenge the account given by the claimant and (c) the opportunity for parties to tender witnesses and documents supporting or challenging the claimant's account.

Fiona Mactaggart: Claims for compensation from victims of sexual abuse are considered by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) in accordance with the terms and conditions of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme. It is for the claimant to make out their case, and CICA determine applications on the balance of probabilities after having made appropriate inquiries of the police, medical and any other relevant authorities.
	Applicants are required to sign an application form declaring, among other things, that the information given in the form is true.
	Applications to CICA are confidential and details of the application, including whether any application has been made, are not disclosed to any third party without the consent of the applicant.

DEFENCE

Armed Forces

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the trained strength of each of the armed forces against requirement was on the latest date for which figures are available, broken down by rank.

Adam Ingram: The trained strength against requirement of the UK Regular forces 1 by service and paid rank at 1 July 2005 is given in the following table:
	
		
			  Naval Service Army RAF 
			  Requirement Strength Requirement Strength Requirement Strength 
		
		
			 Officers 6,950 6,670 13,740 13,730 10,000 9,500 
			 OF-6 to OF-9(10) 120 120 220 240 100 120 
			 OF-5 270 260 600 590 280 290 
			 OF-4 1,200 1,080 1,720 1,730 1,100 1,160 
			 OF-3(11) 2,280 2,300 4,400 4,580 2,620 2,410 
			 OF-2(11) 3,010 2,850 4,960 4,690 5,200 4,910 
			 OF-1(12) 60 60 1,840 1,880 (14)— (14)— 
			 Specialists(13) (15)— (15)— (15)— (15)— 700 600 
			 Other ranks 30,770 28,500 87,030 84,580 38,400 39,110 
			 OR-9 920 840 1,470 1,790 1,150 1,210 
			 OR-8(16) 920 850 4,460 4,870 (15)— (15)— 
			 OR-7 4,630 4,280 5,510 6,030 3,850 3,830 
			 OR-6 5,560 4,750 10,880 10,220 7,840 7,510 
			 OR-5(10) (15)— (15)— (15)— (15)— (15)— (15)— 
			 OR-4 6,860 5,490 16,860 16,030 10,420 10,020 
			 OR-3(16)(5508180017) (15)— (15)— 17,760 16,150 (15)— (15)— 
			 OR-1(17) to OR2 11,880 12,300 30,080 29,500 15,140 16,550 
		
	
	(9)Data are for UK regular forces including nursing services and therefore exclude full time reserve service personnel, Gurkhas, the Home Service battalions of the Royal Irish Regiment and mobilised reservists.
	(10)No services have personnel at NATO rank OF-10 or OR-5.
	(11)Professional Aviator/Specialist Aircrew OF-3 in RAF are included in OF-2 strength because the posts they are filling are included in the OF-2 requirement.
	(12)It is not possible to split requirement for RAF between OF-1 and OF-2
	(13)Requirements for RAF Officer Specialist ranks are set by specialism rather than by rank.
	(14)Not available
	(15)Not applicable
	(16)The Royal Air Force has no personnel at NATO ranks OR-3 or OR-8
	(17)The Naval Service has no personnel at NATO ranks OR-1 or OR-3.
	Note:
	Numbers are rounded to the nearest 10. Due to the founding methods used, figures may not always equal the sum of the parts. Numbers ending in five have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent systematic bias.
	Source:
	DASA (Tri-Service)

Armed Forces

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 10 October 2005, Official Report, column 7W, on armed forces deployment, if he will name the three aircraft carriers earmarked for potential NATO operations.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 17 October 2005
	HMS Ark Royal, HMS Illustrious and HMS Invincible have been earmarked for deployment on NATO operations. Of these, HMS Invincible is available only at very low readiness and has been declared to NATO on this basis.

Avon Skin So Soft

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent research he has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the effectiveness of 'Avon Skin So Soft' as an alternative to the mosquito repellent issued to armed forces personnel in the West of Scotland.

Don Touhig: The Defence Medical Services routinely test products to see if more effective alternatives can be found. To our knowledge, no research is currently being undertaken on the effectiveness of 'Avon Skin So Soft' as a mosquito repellent.

Bentley Priory

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many firm bids there have been for Bentley Priory, Middlesex.

Don Touhig: Although the Ministry of Defence is considering the disposal of RAF Bentley Priory, no final decision to proceed is expected before spring 2006. At this time, therefore, the Department has neither sought nor received firm bids for the purchase of RAF Bentley Priory, although we are in the process of selecting an industry partner who might in due course market the site on our behalf. On current estimates, a sale is not anticipated before 2007–08.

Correspondence

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he will reply to the letters dated 26 July and 31 August from the hon. Member for the Isle of Wight to the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry and transferred to him.

Don Touhig: holding answer 17 October 2005
	My noble Friend, the Minister for Defence Procurement, wrote on 14 October 2005.

Cranwell

Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  how many RAF fast jet pilots have passed through Cranwell in each of the last 10 years;
	(2)  how many RAF fast jet pilots he expects to enter Cranwell in 2006.

Don Touhig: The information is not held in the form requested. trainee pilots pass through initial officer training and complete elementary flying training before being allocated to a particular flying specialisation; fast jet, rotary wing or multi-engine.
	The number of pilots selected after elementary flying training to enter basic fast jet training is detailed in the following table for the last seven financial years. Information for years preceding this is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	
		
			  Financial year Number of pilots entering basic fast jet training 
		
		
			 1998–99 82 
			 1999–2000 82 
			 2000–01 69 
			 2001–02 78 
			 2002–03 109 
			 2003–04 67 
			 2004–05 45 
		
	
	The numbers of fast jet pilots who successfully completed advanced training in each of the last 10 years are set out as follows:
	
		
			 Financial year Number of trained pilots 
		
		
			 1995–96 41 
			 1996–97 43 
			 1997–98 32 
			 1998–99 37 
			 1999–2000 46 
			 2000–01 48 
			 2001–02 55 
			 2002–03 67 
			 2003–04 50 
			 2004–05 48 
		
	
	Five basic fast jet training courses are planned for each of the financial years 2005–06 and 2006–07 with eight trainee fast jet pilots on each course. It is planned to deliver 40 pilots who have successfully completed advanced fast jet training in each of the financial years 2005–06 and 2006–07.

Defence Exhibition

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the cost of servicing the Defence Systems and Equipment International Exhibition in September in respect of (a) armed forces equipment and personnel, (b) hosting foreign delegations and (c) policing;
	(2)  what public expenditure was incurred in support of the London Defence Systems and Equipment Exhibitions in 2005.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 17 October 2005
	The cost of hosting official overseas delegations at the Defence Systems and Equipment International 2005 exhibition was largely met from funds provided by the exhibition organisers, Spearhead Exhibitions Ltd. The balance of these costs, currently estimated to be approximately £110,000, was met from Defence funds. Personnel-related costs, mainly travel and subsistence, and minor costs for equipment movement not covered by commercial sponsorship, were met by the Ministry of Defence (MOD) from a number of budgets and have not been centrally identified. No estimate has been made of costs for which MOD is not responsible, such as the policing of the area surrounding the exhibition site.

Defence Reductions

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what plans he has for further reductions to the number of (a) warships, (b) aircraft and (c) ground vehicles beyond those outlined in the 2004 Defence White Paper; and what discussions he has had on such reductions;
	(2)  what plans he has for further reductions in the manpower of the UK armed forces beyond those outlined in the 2004 Defence White Paper; and what discussions he has had concerning such reductions.

John Reid: The 2004 'Future Capabilities' Command Paper set out an updated assessment of future force structure and service manpower requirements. Since its publication, the Department has also announced plans to form a Joint Special Forces Support Group (JSFSG) and the Formation of Special Reconnaissance Regiment (SRR). As part of the normalisation process in Northern Ireland, I announced on 1 August this year that the Home Service Battalions of the Royal Irish Regiment will disband at the end of Operation Banner in Northern Ireland. However this does not affect the force structure or manpower numbers announced in July 2004 as the Royal Irish (Home Service) manpower is excluded from figures on the size of the Regular, trained Army. I have no plans at present for further significant adjustments to capabilities or service manpower. As part of the day-to-day running of the Department, however, there will continue to be routine adjustments at the margins of the defence programme, including those related to delivery of the MOD's efficiency targets.

Eurofighter

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his latest estimate is of the sales of the Eurofighter in the first five years of operation.

Adam Ingram: Under the terms of the four-nation Memorandum of Understanding, the four partner nations (Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) have undertaken to procure a total of 620 Eurofighter-Typhoons in three tranches. The first two tranches of 384 aircraft are already under contract.
	As a world-class aircraft, Typhoon has strong export prospects. An order for 18 aircraft has already been placed by Austria, and a number of other countries have also expressed an interest in acquiring the aircraft.

Gloucestershire Airport (Invoices)

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the average time taken by his Department to settle invoices submitted by Gloucestershire airport with respect to landing fees and fuel was in the last period for which figures are available; what steps are being taken to reduce this time; and if he will make a statement.

Don Touhig: holding answer 18 October 2005
	The Defence Bills Agency does not maintain records to illustrate the average length of time taken to pay particular suppliers' invoices. Establishing this degree of information for Gloucestershire Airport Ltd. would require detailed IT and manual investigation beyond the cost threshold for answering a parliamentary question.
	The DBA does maintain aggregated records, by monthly and annual volume of valid and correctly presented invoices, which confirm that the Agency pays all such bills within 11 calendar days of receipt.

Military Personnel

Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many serving military personnel in the (a) army, (b) Royal Navy and (c) Royal Air Force are (i) single, (ii) married, (iii) divorced and (iv) separated, broken down by the age ranges (A) 24 and under, (B) 25 to 29, (C) 30 to 34, (D) 35 to 39, (E) 40 to 44 and (F) 45 years and over.

Don Touhig: Strength of UK regular forces (trained and untrained) at 1 September 2005 by Service, marital status and age group is shown in the following tables:
	
		Naval Service
		
			  Married Not married 
		
		
			 All ages 16,700 22,795 
			
			 24 and under 560 11,700 
			 25 to 29 1,520 5,290 
			 30 to 34 3,925 2,910 
			 35 to 39 5,185 1,705 
			 40 to 44 3,270 865 
			 45 and over 2,240 325 
		
	
	The Naval Service groups those who are not married together, so it is not possible to produce separate analysis for those who are single, divorced or separated.
	
		Army
		
			  Single Married Divorced Separated 
		
		
			 All ages 55,020 48,575 3,515 230 
			  
			 24 and under 36,640 4,465 60 — 
			 25 to 29 12,530 9,305 400 15 
			 30 to 34 3,985 12,670 1,090 25 
			 35 to 39 1,350 13,545 1,370 50 
			 40 to 44 360 5,170 425 75 
			 45 and over 155 3,420 170 65 
		
	
	Notes:
	1.Single includes the categories single" and widower".
	2.Married includes the categories married (legally separated revoked)", married" and married (Decree Nisi revoked)".
	3.Divorced includes the categories divorce nisi absolute" and single marriage annulled".
	4.Separated includes the categories legally separated" and divorce Decree Nisi".
	
		RAF
		
			  Single Married Divorced Separated 
		
		
			 All ages 19,775 26,675 2,120 2,250 
			  
			 24 and under 10,175 1,150 20 115 
			 25 to 29 5,600 2,885 120 355 
			 30 to 34 2,325 5,095 425 520 
			 35 to 39 1,070 7,655 755 625 
			 40 to 44 400 5,440 485 410 
			 45 and over 205 4,455 315 225 
		
	
	Notes:
	1.Single includes the categories single" and widower".
	2.Divorced includes the categories divorce absolute" and marriage annulled".
	3.Separated includes the categories legal separation", divorce nisi" and estranged/mutually separated.

Ministerial Travel

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many air miles were accrued through departmental ministerial travel in his Department in 2004–05, broken down by Minister; how many were (a) foregone and (b) donated to charity, broken down by charity; and whether air miles accrued by officials were required to be (i) foregone and (ii) given to charity.

Don Touhig: Ministerial travel is conducted in accordance with the Ministerial Code" and Travel by Ministers". Guidance for Ministers on the use of air miles is set out in the Ministerial Code". The guidance makes clear that air miles should be used only for official purposes or else forgone. However, if it is impracticable to use the benefits for Government travel, there is no objection to Ministers donating them to charity if this is permissible under the terms of the airline's scheme and the charity is one chosen by the airline.
	Similar rules are in place for officials. However, the Ministry of Defence has no central record of air miles accrued by either Ministers or officials, and is unable to provide details of those forgone or donated to charity.

QinetiQ

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what procedures have been put in place to ensure that funding received by QinetiQ from the Department on a non-competitive or allocated basis is used for the purposes for which it is intended.

Adam Ingram: The funding QinetiQ receives is tied to specific tasks that need to be completed to the satisfaction of the MOD customer. The MOD has a formal enabling contract with QinetiQ and the specific tasks are awarded against that contract. The procedures follow the principles of contracting applied to any supplier. Progress and completion of individual tasks are monitored by MOD staff against agreed criteria.

Regiment Naming

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the full procedure and timetable is for (a) selecting and (b) formally agreeing a new name for a regiment, with particular reference to the King's Lancashire and Border Regiment.

Adam Ingram: In selecting the names for new infantry regiments there has been a great deal of consultation at local and regimental level about potential new titles. The responsible Division of the Infantry then makes a recommendation to the Executive Committee of the Army Board, which in turn seeks the approval of Ministers and, ultimately, Her Majesty the Queen.

UK Nuclear Deterrent

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make it his policy to seek a vote in the House on the future of the UK nuclear deterrent.

John Reid: I have nothing to add to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk (Mr. Moore) on 14 October 2005, Official Report, column 620W.

Volunteering

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many volunteering positions his Department has offered in each of the last five years.

Don Touhig: For civilian employees, the information requested is shown in the following table:
	
		
			  Prince's Trust Prince's Trust Druidstone Raleigh International 
		
		
			 2004–05 83 95 20 
			 2003–04 83 93 20 
			 2002–03 86 49 20 
			 2001–02 66 56 20 
			 2000–01 121 5 20 
			 Total 439 298 100 
		
	
	These figures only represent centrally managed volunteering initiatives. Local contributions by Ministry of Defence business units to the Year of the Volunteer are not recorded centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	Information relating to the Armed Forces is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Birmingham Stock Exchange

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much was spent by the West Midlands Regional Development Association on the creation of a stock exchange in Birmingham; and what the planned completion date is.

Alun Michael: There is a well acknowledged market failure for west midlands based SMEs raising growth capital. Recent work undertaken by ECOTEC for AWM in September 2004 has restated the existence of an equity gap of between £0.5 million and £5 million, with the most severe constraints being for businesses seeking up to £2 million of growth capital.
	Investbx will act as a facilitator to connect ambitious west midlands based companies with investors. Companies will release shares in exchange for funds; Investors will have access to investment opportunities that would otherwise not have been available to them.
	While the primary objective of Investbx is to raise funds for the company, a number of ancillary services such as a trading platform, receiving agent services and showcasing will be an integral part of the Investbx offer to ensure that the process of raising money is as straightforward as possible and that there is continued interest in the company once it joins the trading platform.
	The application for up to £3.8 million funding over six years for Investbx was formally approved by AWM on 19 January 2005. The project received DTI Section 5(2)(c) consent on 4 April 2005 and it is anticipated that Investbx will launch during Q2 2006. Funding from AWM will be used to pump prime the establishment of Investbx for up to five years or such time as sufficient companies and investors have been attracted in order to sustain Investbx as a stand alone entity.
	AWM's involvement will give comfort that Investbx will be supported for at least five years or until it reaches the point of sustainability. This guaranteed longevity is vital. Potential companies, investors and intermediaries need re-assurance that Investbx will be a permanent feature of the financial community.

Investbx Scheme

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what expenditure Advantage West Midlands (a) has so far incurred and (b) is expected to incur on establishing the Investbx scheme.

Alun Michael: The project background was explained in parliamentary question number 18780 which appears above this question.
	The application for up to £3.8 million funding over six years for Investbx as formally approved by AWM on 19 January 2005 and the project received DTI section 5(2)(c) consent on 4 April 2005. Costs associated with establishing Investbx which include feasibility work, market testing and legal fees are expected to be as follows:
	
		
			  Total to establish Investbx (£000) 
		
		
			 To 30 September 2005 826 
			 To 31 March 2006 c.900 
		
	
	It is anticipated that Investbx will launch during Q2 2006.

Civil Partnerships Act

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how he plans to inform (a) employees and (b) businesses of the change in rules that will occur as a result of the introduction of the Civil Partnerships Act 2004.

Meg Munn: Informing employees and businesses about the Civil Partnership Act is an important element of the Government's awareness raising campaign about the legislation.
	The Women and Equality Unit (WEU) has already produced advice for employees and businesses about the impact of the introduction of the Civil Partnership Act. In July a bulletin specifically for employees and businesses was published on the WEU website and emailed to a wide range of stakeholders, including employers organisations and trade unions.
	ACAS will shortly be re-issuing its guide on Sexual Orientation in the Workplace", which has been updated to reflect the introduction of civil partnership. In addition, I have written several articles about civil partnership for business and trade union publications which will be published over the next couple of months.
	There is also extensive general guidance on civil partnership on the WEU website, which can be access at www.womenandequalityunit.gov.uk/civilpartnership.htm

Coal Imports

Jimmy Hood: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the impact of coal imports on the UK's balance of payments; and if he will make a statement.

Malcolm Wicks: According to the latest HM Revenue and Customs statistics, in 2004 the value of imports of coal and other solid fuels was £1482.3 million. The value of exports of coal and other solid fuels was £60.2 million. Hence, in 2004 the net exports (exports minus imports) of coal and solid fuel were valued at -£1422.1 million.
	These net exports represent 6 per cent. of the UK current account deficit in 2004. The current account deficit is forecast to widen a little this year to around 2¾per cent. of GDP, and to be stable at about that level thereafter. This remains modest compared to historical peaks: The current account deficit was more than 5 per cent. of GDP in 1989.

Energy Efficiency (Commercial Sector)

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate he has made of the percentage of energy usage in the commercial and services sector that could be saved through energy efficiency measures.

Elliot Morley: I have been asked to reply.
	Estimates from experts vary, depending on assumptions made. In broad terms, it might be possible to achieve savings of around 30 per cent. if all technical measures were implemented, regardless of cost, in the Commercial and Public Services sector. However, the potential for cost-effective measures by 2010 is around 10 per cent.

Energy Prices

Mark Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations he has received from manufacturing industry about the competitive impact of UK energy prices; and if he will make a statement.

Malcolm Wicks: DTI Ministers have received numerous letters from individual companies and representative bodies on this issue, and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and I have had frequent meetings with these groups over the past 12 months. In addition, in January 2005, the Department set up the Gas Prices Working Group with the Energy Intensive Users Group and Ofgem to address this issue. The group has now agreed a list of action points for the short to medium term, such as maximising gas supplies, improving the design of the gas market, encouraging demand side response and pursuing energy market liberalisation in the EU.

Gas and Electricity

John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what demand modelling he has performed to examine the interplay between gas and electricity generation in the event of a one in 20 cold winter.

Malcolm Wicks: The Department has not undertaken demand modelling to examine the interplay between gas and electricity. This is undertaken by National Grid, as system operator.
	National Grid's consideration of the interaction between gas and electricity can be found in Section C of its Winter Outlook Report, published on 5 October:
	http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/temp/ofgem/cache/cmsattach/12493_214_05.pdf

Hazardous Substances

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether she supports the proposal for the EU to exempt the brominated flame retardant deca-BDE from the ban on hazardous substances in electronics due to enter into force in 2006.

Alun Michael: The European Commission adopted its Decision to exempt deca-BDE in polymeric applications from the restriction on the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment (RoHS) Directive on 13 October 2005. This was published in the EC's Official Journal on 15 October 2005, (OJ no. L271, 15.10.2005, p. 48).

Independent School Fees

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he expects the Office of Fair Trading will publish the results of their inquiry into possible collusion in setting fee levels at certain independent schools.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The conduct and timing of investigations carried out by the Office of Fair Trading are a matter for that body, which conducts its investigations independently of the Secretary of State and other Government Departments.

Independent School Fees

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate he has made of the cost of the Office of Fair Trading inquiry into possible fee-setting at certain independent schools.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The investigation was launched in June 2003.
	The OFT does not have figures that differentiate the costs of cases pre-dating the launch of its dedicated time recording systems on 1 April 2004. The figures available show that the direct costs of the schools investigation since this point are approximately:
	
		
			  £ 
		
		
			 2004–05 173,000 
			 Q1 2005–06 29,000 
			 Total from 1 April 2004–30 June 2005 202,000 
		
	
	The figures for Q2 2005–06 should be available at the end of the month.

Independent School Fees

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he will place in the Library the evidence submitted to the Office of Fair Trading inquiry into possible collusion in fee-setting at certain independent schools.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Evidence gathered by the Office of Fair Trading during the course of its investigations is retained by the Office of Fair Trading, which is independent of the Secretary of State and of other Government Departments. Such evidence is also subject to statutory restrictions on disclosure under part 9 of the Enterprise Act 2002 which would prevent it from being placed in the Libraries of the House.

Liquefied Gas Pipeline

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry 
	(1)  what discussions he has had with Transco about the proposed routes of the liquefied gas pipelines from Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire;
	(2)  if he will make a statement on the proposed routes of the Milford Haven liquefied gas pipeline.

Malcolm Wicks: I have facilitated discussions between the LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) terminal companies, National Grid (formerly National Grid Transco"), and Ofgem, about the need for timely pipeline connections to flow natural gas from the terminals (when commissioned) into the National Transportation System for gas. The choice of route is a commercial matter for National Grid, subject to the necessary regulatory consents.

Meters

Mark Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many Dynamically Teleswitched Meters there are in (a) England, (b) Scotland and (c) Wales.

Malcolm Wicks: There are 228,000 Dynamically Switched Meters in Scotland. No data are available for England and Wales

Miners' Compensation

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many disabled miners or their widows have received compensation for lung disease and vibration white finger in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) Tyne and Wear and (d) the UK in each year since 1997.

Malcolm Wicks: The figures requested are set out in the following tables. Such statistics are available by constituency or postcode boundaries, so figures for South Tyneside and Tyne and Wear cannot be produced individually. Payments include those to miners' estates as well as miners and widows.
	
		COPD
		
			  Jarrow South Tyneside(18) UK 
		
		
			 1997 0 0 0 
			 1998 2 12 1,147 
			 1999 1 10 643 
			 2000 21 96 4,427 
			 2001 30 182 10,820 
			 2002 83 526 31,995 
			 2003 130 836 48,504 
			 2004 187 1,231 59,004 
			 2005 321 1,969 93,733 
			 Total 775 4,862 250,273 
		
	
	
		VWF
		
			  Jarrow South Tyneside(18) UK 
		
		
			 1997 1 4 748 
			 1998 0 19 1,182 
			 1999 39 252 5,343 
			 2000 39 233 7,488 
			 2001 51 427 17,543 
			 2002 76 479 22,446 
			 2003 120 664 30,796 
			 2004 92 538 25,028 
			 2005 54 335 15,924 
			 Total 472 2,951 126,498 
		
	
	(18)Consists of South Shields, Gateshead East and Washington West, Sunderland North, Sunderland South and Jarrow constituencies.
	Note:
	To ensure that a claimant is only reported once, where a claimant has received a payment in separate years they are only reported on the latest payment (e.g. if a claimant receives an interim payment in 2001 and a full and final payment in 2002, they will be reported in 2002 only).

Miners' Compensation

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much compensation has been paid forlung disease and vibration white finger to disabled miners or their widows in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) Tyne and Wear and (d) the UK in each year since 1997.

Malcolm Wicks: The figures requested are set out in the following tables. Such statistics are available by constituency or postcode boundaries, so figures for South Tyneside and Tyne and Wear cannot be produced individually. Payments include those to miners' estates as well as miners and widows.
	
		COPD
		
			  Jarrow South Tyneside(19) UK 
		
		
			 1997 — — — 
			 1998 44,000 298,000 21,183,214 
			 1999 58,622 426,312 21,802,087 
			 2000 222,128 1,291,183 60,840,464 
			 2001 293,762 2,297,737 134,749,625 
			 2002 544,634 5,260,846 295,410,803 
			 2003 1,064,164 7,944,173 413,921,531 
			 2004 1,116,472 8,375,901 340,768,003 
			 2005 1,400,960 8,606,947 325,688,955 
			 Total 4,744,743 34,501,099 1,614,364,682 
		
	
	
		VWF
		
			  Jarrow South Tyneside(19) UK 
		
		
			 1997 1,450 8,230 879,351 
			 1998 17,000 136,884 3,680,980 
			 1999 479,847 3,352,533 51,431,960 
			 2000 1,016,571 6,742,373 149,170,029 
			 2001 899,037 6,895,903 231,872,092 
			 2002 845,049 5,519,821 226,824,141 
			 2003 998,678 5,950,994 245,242,056 
			 2004 774,671 4,801,760 174,635,529 
			 2005 459,790 3,060,557 97,678,630 
			 Total 5,492,092 36,469,055 1,181,414,766 
		
	
	(19)Consists of South Shields, Gateshead East and Washington West, Sunderland North, Sunderland South and Jarrow constituencies.
	Note:
	Total damages paid represents all payments made, i.e. includes both interims and full & final payments.

National Grid

John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the impact of a reduction in the voltage on the national grid in the event of a one in 50 cold winter on (a) domestic and (b) commercial consumers.

Malcolm Wicks: If voltage demand measures were needed to handle a short-term electricity shortage the most likely visible impact on consumers would be a slight dimming of lights and kettles would take longer to boil. Some sensitive, mainly commercial and industrial, electronic systems may be affected e.g. fire alarms.
	Demand restraint measures of this nature would mostly happen during the morning and evening peak demand periods.

National Grid

John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry to what level the voltage on the national grid may be reduced in the event of a one in 50 cold winter.

Malcolm Wicks: Under the terms of the Grid Code, National Grid can direct Distributed Network Operators to implement short-term demand reduction measures. The Distributed Network Operators have a number of different tools available to deal with a request of this nature; these include short-term disconnection, interrupting supply to those customers whose contracts permit it or the use of voltage reductions. The severity of the situation would decide which of these measures were appropriate.
	However, this is a very short-term measure that can only address an emergency situation. In a long-term shortage of supply incident other demand restraint measures would be utilised.

Natural Gas

John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what contingency plans are in place to deal with a possible shortage of natural gas during the winter of 2005–06; and what significant methods are available, in addition to limiting electricity generation, to reduce natural gas consumption.

Malcolm Wicks: In the first instance the Government would expect demand for gas to reduce itself in response to price signals indicating tightness in the balance between supply and demand in the gas market. This has already been observed in previous winters, mostly from electricity generation but also, to a lesser extent, from large industrial users of gas. The scope for additional demand reduction from this sector was explored in a report, Estimation of Industrial Buyers' Potential Demand Response to Short Periods of High Gas & Electricity Prices: A report to the DTI and Ofgem by Global Insight", which is available from the DTI website under
	http://www.dti.gov.uk/energy/publications/policy/index.shtml
	The Government and Ofgem have been working with large industrial users to encourage the provision of more timely and easily accessible information to help market participants to identify commercial opportunities for such demand-side response.
	In the extremely unlikely event of the situation deteriorating to the point where the market is no longer able to balance itself, powers to restrict gas supply are available to the national emergency co-ordinator at National Grid and to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State under applicable legislation.

Nuclear Power

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether a privatised British Nuclear Group would continue to take overseas contracts for the reprocessing of nuclear material in the UK; and if he will make a statement.

Malcolm Wicks: The BNFL Board met on 29 September further to consider a number of strategic options for British Nuclear Group to give it the best chance of success in the future and place it in the strongest possible position to win the upcoming NDA site competitions. The preference of the Board is to pursue a sale, which they believe would be in the best interests of the company and its employees.
	Irrespective of who owns BNG decisions on future reprocessing contracts would be for the Government to take on the advice of the NDA.

Nuclear Power

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many and what percentage of drums of high-level nuclear waste held at Sellafield have been classified by BNFL as not safe to be returned to foreign customers.

Malcolm Wicks: At Sellafield, high-level nuclear waste is made safe for long-term storage by a process called vitrification. The vitrification process chemically bonds the liquid high level waste into a solid glass matrix which is held in a stainless steel container. These vitrified residue containers are then placed in an engineered store.
	Approximately 20 per cent. of the vitrified residue containers scheduled to be produced over the lifetime of the vitrification plant at Sellafield will be returned to overseas reprocessing customers. The vitrified residue containers are manufactured to meet an agreed customer specification and in addition are certified by an independent third party auditor on behalf of overseas customers. To date over 1,000 containers have been certified as meeting this specification.
	All vitrified residue containers produced are safely stored at Sellafield and will remain safe for long term storage. Of those containers produced for export to overseas customers none have been classified by British Nuclear Group as unsafe.

Nuclear Power

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the production of nuggets of soluble radioactivity in the vitrification process.

Malcolm Wicks: High level nuclear waste is made safe for long term storage by a process called vitrification. Vitrification chemically bonds the waste products into a solid glass matrix. The vitrification process is internationally recognised as the best available technology for the treatment and storage of such waste.
	During the production of the vitrified residue containers, trace amounts of mainly non-radioactive chemicals may not be completely bound into the glass matrix. This is termed 'yellow phase' material and is soluble in water. While formation of such traces of soluble material cannot be entirely eliminated, its formation is rendered insignificant by the glass formulation chosen to incorporate the waste and the operating parameters to which the vitrification process is controlled.
	The vitrification plants at Sellafield are operated to reduce the potential for 'yellow phase' formation. The vitrified residue containers remain safe for long term storage.

Offshore Wind

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the potential of Tees Valley offshore wind to help the Government achieve their target for renewable energy production by 2010.

Malcolm Wicks: The application for consent for the Teesside offshore wind farm at Redcar is still being considered prior to its determination by Ministers. In taking the decision on the application, Ministers will be mindful of the Government targets for the take up of renewable energy and will balance these against any local impacts that have been identified during the public consultation exercise carried out for this project.

Post Offices (Fraud)

Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many post offices were temporarily closed because of suspected fraud within their premises in the last year for which figures are available.

Barry Gardiner: This is an operational matter for Post Office Ltd. (POL). The chief executive, David Mills, has been asked to reply direct to the hon. Member.

Regional Government

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the (a) Government expenditure and (b) administration costs of regional development agencies was in each year since their creation; and what the estimated figures are for 2005–06.

Alun Michael: The tables show the regional development agencies' expenditure and their administration costs for the financial years 1999–2000 to 2004–5 and plans for 2005–2006.
	
		
			  1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 
			  Expenditure Administration Expenditure Administration Expenditure Administration 
		
		
			 Advantage West Midlands 103,423 7,421 112,674 8,352 140,678 8,793 
			 East of England Development Agency 29,818 4,570 36,140 4,849 54,520 5,836 
			 East Midlands Development Agency 41,117 6,941 67,197 7,377 86,070 7,488 
			 London Development Agency — — 235,490 6,009 265,815 9,470 
			 North West Development Agency 141,367 11,837 155,750 13,876 269,688 14,044 
			 One North East 92,280 9,585 97,736 10,513 158,181 10,103 
			 South East England Development Agency 63,473 5,196 73,235 6,343 97,322 6,643 
			 South West Development Agency 43,028 7,255 61,736 8,380 84,780 9,099 
			 Yorkshire Forward 121,298 7,795 124,950 8,284 207,491 9,989 
		
	
	
		
			  2002–03 2003–04 
			  Expenditure Administration Expenditure Administration 
		
		
			 Advantage West Midlands 204,133 13,862 239,854 17,300 
			 East of England Development Agency 88,496 9,000 80,156 9,000 
			 East Midlands Development Agency 100,706 10,200 116,795 12,000 
			 London Development Agency 294,827 17,000 317,279 17,000 
			 North West Development Agency 274,032 21,619 309,092 29,925 
			 One North East 192,860 18,372 223,000 21,258 
			 South East England Development Agency 111,911 14,303 135,706 16,395 
			 South West Development Agency 102,856 14,242 99,052 16,044 
			 Yorkshire Forward 211,453 16,608 244,249 17,482 
		
	
	
		
			  2004–05 2005–06 
			  Expenditure Administration Expenditure Administration 
		
		
			 Advantage West Midlands 217,281 18,500 272,312 20,000 
			 East of England Development Agency 84,140 10,000 129,438 11,200 
			 East Midlands Development Agency 118,774 13,668 155,963 15,000 
			 London Development Agency 327,642 30,400 372,979 29,500 
			 North West Development Agency 366,720 32,449 381,831 38,792 
			 One North East 226,528 21,773 239,674 22,500 
			 South East England Development Agency 110,225 16,868 157,159 18,000 
			 South West Development Agency 113,368 15,944 153,092 19,773 
			 Yorkshire Forward 287,966 17,351 295,007 19,510 
		
	
	Note:
	The expenditure figures are net of receipts that RDAs recycle

Regional Industrial Development Boards

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the (a) expenditure and (b) administrative costs of each regional industrial development board were in each year since their creation; and what the estimated costs are for 2005–06.

Alun Michael: The regional industrial development boards (RIDBs) are advisory and do not incur any expenditure. Appointments to RIDBs are unpaid but members have an entitlement to claim expenses. Some modest administration costs are incurred within the RDAs arranging and holding periodic meetings. Further administration costs are also borne by the Government offices (GOs) in the course of processing appointments. The most recent estimate of annual costs is as follows:
	
		
			  £ 
		
		
			 GO-YH(20) 38,661 
			 GO-NE 12,917 
			 GO-NW 18,500 
			 GO-SW 34,065 
			 GO-WM 11,249 
			 GO-SE(21) 24,000 
			 GO-EE 8,140 
		
	
	(20)Covering Yorkshire and Humberside and East Midlands RIDBs
	(21)Covering London and South East RIDBs
	Historical data can be produced only at disproportionate cost.

Regional Industrial Development Boards

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the role and responsibilities of (a) regional industrial development boards and (b) regional development agencies are.

Alun Michael: This information can be found in the Industrial Development Act 1982 Annual Report and the Regional Development Agencies Act 1998, which are available in the Libraries of the House.

MINISTER FOR WOMEN

Teenage Pregnancy

Lynda Waltho: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality what recent discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Health on teenage pregnancy.

Meg Munn: Using the Women's Minister's Network meetings I have had discussions with Ministers from the Department of Health about a number of issues concerning women and health and look forward to continuing this dialogue when we meet again.

CABINET OFFICE

Ministerial Travel

Norman Baker: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many air miles were accrued through departmental ministerial travel in 2004–05, broken down by Minister; how many were (a) foregone and (b) donated to charity, broken down by charity; and whether air miles accrued by officials were required to be (i) foregone and (ii) given to charity.

John Hutton: Ministerial travel is conducted in accordance with the 'Ministerial Code' and Travel by Ministers'. Guidance for Ministers on the use of air miles is set out in the 'Ministerial Code'. The guidance makes clear that air miles should be used only for official purposes or else foregone. However, if it is impracticable to use the benefits for Government travel, there is no objection to Ministers donating them to charity if this is permissible under the terms of the airline's scheme and the charity is one chosen by the airline. Similar rules are in place for officials.
	No air miles were accrued through Cabinet Office ministerial travel in 2004–05.

Ombudsman Service

Vincent Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what monitoring arrangements his Department has in place in respect of the administrative performance of the Ombudsman Service; and what the (a) average and (b) target time is for (i) launching and (ii) concluding an investigation from the date of receipt of an application.

John Hutton: The Parliamentary Ombudsman, Ann Abraham, is an independent office-holder. She operates under the provisions of the Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1967 (as amended).
	The Parliamentary Ombudsman published a Three Year Strategic Plan in July in which she set out the customer service standards and delivery targets that she and her staff aim to meet or exceed over the next three years. She publishes information about performance against targets in her annual report to Parliament. Her 2004–05 Annual Report, HC 348, was published on 20 July. Copies of the Three Year Strategic Plan and annual reports are available in the Library.
	Information in respect of other Ombudsmen is not a matter for the Cabinet Office.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Departmental Vehicles

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many vehicles for which the Department is responsible are fitted with retreaded tyres.

Gareth Thomas: For information on the use of retread tyres in vehicles provided to the Department by the Government Car and Despatch Agency I refer the hon. Member to the letter of 11 October 2005 which he received from the Chief Executive of the GCDA, reference UIN15087 and UIN15088. Copies of this letter are available in the Library.
	DFID is not responsible for any other vehicles in the UK. Information on vehicles in overseas offices is not centrally available and cannot be obtained without incurring a disproportionate cost.

Ministerial Travel

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many air miles were accrued through departmental ministerial travel in 2004–05, broken down by Minister; how many were (a) foregone and (b) donated to charity, broken down by charity; and whether air miles accrued by officials were required to be (i) foregone and (ii) given to charity.

Hilary Benn: Ministerial travel is conducted in accordance with the Ministerial Code" and Travel by Ministers". Guidance for Ministers on the use of Air Miles is set out in the Ministerial Code, which makes it clear that air miles should be used only for official purposes or else forgone. If it is impracticable to use the benefits for Government travel, there is no objection to their donation to a charity chosen by the airline. Similar rules apply for officials. We do not maintain a record of air miles earned.
	DFID has recently established a pilot scheme with major airlines under which air miles accrued on official travel can be exchanged for earth miles" to fund carbon offset projects to neutralise emissions from air travel. All members of DFID are encouraged to contribute.

Volunteering

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many volunteering positions his Department has offered in each of the last five years.

Gareth Thomas: DFID has offered no volunteering positions in the last five years under the Next Steps initiative. However, we have long recognised the value of volunteering and the vital contribution that volunteers make in our wider development work. We therefore support a number of civil society organisations who act as volunteer sending agencies as part of the global effort to reduce world poverty.
	We also support volunteering activities in other ways. Firstly, through our Volunteering Strategy, we encourage DFID staff at all levels to volunteer to work in their local community by offering one day's paid leave a year. Secondly, we publicise the work of the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) on our website for those members of the public who may have specialist skills that could be of assistance in disaster situations.

World Trade

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what (a) aid and (b) other assistance has been provided to developing countries to support their participation in the forthcoming world trade negotiations.

Gareth Thomas: There are three main ways in which we have supported and continue to support developing countries in trade negotiations, including the current Round of World Trade Organisation (WTO) trade talks. First, through assistance to help countries formulate and develop their own trade policies, taking account of their domestic and regional circumstances. Second, by helping countries build their capacity to negotiate these policies with their partners, either regionally or international and thirdly, we help the actual participation of developing countries in trade talks themselves. For example, we have provided countries such as Lesotho and Zambia with the resources they need to secure analysis and expertise in order to help determine their own trade policies.
	We have supported regional institutions that in turn support their developing country members in trade analysis and negotiations. For example, through funding trade advisors in the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) and the Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA) Secretariats and providing resources for the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery, the body that helps Caribbean countries co-ordinate and pursue their negotiating efforts, not just in the WTO but in terms of other agreements such as the Cotonou Economic Partnership Agreements.
	We have funded advisory support and resources to the Least Developed Country (LDC) group chaired by Zambia, to develop their position and attendance at the Hong Kong WTO ministerial and with other donors we contribute to a trust fund that will enable Least Developed Countries (LDCs) to attend the forthcoming WTO ministerial meeting in Hong Kong in December.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Academy Courses (London West)

John Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of the overall capital funding in the London West Learning and Skills Council (LSC) area is expected to be spent on the proposed 16 to 19 academy based on Brunel university's Uxbridge campus; and whether the proportions involved are consistent with the criteria applied to other LSC funded institutions.

Bill Rammell: The Brunel HSBC Education Trust Academy project is currently in the feasibility stage of development (currently planned to open in September 2008), where its viability is assessed and consulted on with local stakeholders. If the project is deemed to be feasible it will be submitted to the LSC and the Secretary of State for approval. The LSC have agreed to provide up to 35 per cent. of the capital costs of the project but a precise figure for this will not be known until the main design stage of the feasibility phase is completed, which is expected to be around March 2006. This proportion is consistent with the criteria applied to other LSC funded institutions.

A-level Grades

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  what assessment she has made of the relative accuracy of A-level grade predictions made for the purpose of university admissions in the case of (a) pupils in the independent and state school sectors and (b) pupils from different socio-economic groups;
	(2)  what research she has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the accuracy of A-level grade predictions, with particular reference to the relative accuracy of grade predictions in the state and independent sectors.

Bill Rammell: The Department commissioned an analysis of data from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service on predicted A-level grades to inform the consultation on Improving the Higher Education Applications Process which was published on 9 September. The analysis has also been published and is available on the UCAS website.
	The research found that: over half of all predicted grades were inaccurate; applicants from the lower socio-economic groups were more likely to receive an incorrect predicted grade than applicants from higher groups; 10.2 per cent. of applicants from the lowest 1 socio-economic group received under-predicted grades compared to 7.5 per cent. of the highest group (in terms of over-prediction, these proportions are 50.5 per cent. and 41.1 per cent. respectively); and applicants from independent and grammar schools are more likely to receive accurate grades than those at maintained schools.
	Internal analysis of the same data was conducted by the Department and this informed the consultation document (a copy of this analysis has been placed in the House of Commons Library). It shows that a number of factors have a bearing on the accuracy of predictions, and bears out the assessment that there is an appreciable chance that predicted grades do not accurately foreshadow actual grades. This is a concern for students whatever their background and whether they received over- or under-predictions.
	It is clear from the research that some are disadvantaged more than others. One such group are students from lower socio-economic groups for whom, because of their generally lower levels of attainment, predicted grades are more likely to be inaccurate—and so the present system is least fair to the poorest students.
	1 UCAS's analysis splits applicants into six socio-economic status groups, from parental occupation being higher managerial posts, to semi-routine occupations.

Basic Skills Training

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the eligibility criteria are for receiving free basic skills training at further education colleges.

Bill Rammell: For individuals eligible for Learning and Skills Council (LSC) funding basic skills provision is free to the learner. I refer the hon. Member to the LSC's publication 'Funding Guidance for Further Education in 2004/05' and the supplementary publication 'Funding Guidance for Further Education in 2005/06' which sets out fully the eligibility criteria. Copies have been placed in the House Libraries.

Communication Aids Project

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans she has to extend funding for the Communication Aids Project beyond March 2006; and what steps she will take to safeguard the improvements secured by the Communication Aids Project if funding is to cease.

Maria Eagle: We will be reviewing the case for further funding for the Communication Aids Project (CAP) in the months to come, as part of a wider review of Government expenditure plans. The review of CAP funding will consider all relevant factors including lessons learnt to date and how best to maintain momentum.

Correspondence

Richard Shepherd: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when the Minister of State for Schools will give a substantive reply to the letter of 22 June from the hon. Member for Aldridge-Brownhills in respect of Dr. David Cooper.

Jacqui Smith: holding answer 18 October 2005
	I replied to the hon. Member's letter of 22 June on 19 October.

Faith Schools

Graham Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will take steps to stop the expansion in the number of faith schools.

Jacqui Smith: The Government believes parents should have a range of schools to choose from, including faith schools. We welcome more faith schools in the maintained sector providing they have the support of parents and the local community. Decisions about the establishment of new faith schools are made at local level by the School Organisation Committee which takes into account the views of local people. Where the Committee is unable to reach a unanimous decision an independent schools adjudicator determines the proposals.

Foreign Languages

Robert Wareing: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many A-level students sat examinations in (a) French, (b) German, (c) Spanish, (d) Russian, (e) Mandarin and (f) Arabic in each year since 2001.

Jacqui Smith: The number of GCE A-level examination entries in England in the foreign languages requested can be found as follows.
	
		Foreign language entries of 16 to 18-year-olds, 2001–04
		
			  2001 2002 2003 2004 
		
		
			 French 15,393 13,599 12,904 12,480 
			 German 7,607 6,367 6,068 5,643 
			 Spanish 4,501 4,430 4,504 4,650 
			 Arabic 167 188 181 218 
			 Mandarin 1,102 1,400 1,496 1,677 
			 Russian 442 415 485 451

Geography

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many and what proportion of pupils took (a) GCSE and (b) A level geography in each year since 1995.

Jacqui Smith: The number and proportion of pupils who took GCSE and A-level geography in each year since 1995 was:
	
		
			  GCSE A-level 
			 Academic year Number(22) Percentage Number(22) Percentage 
		
		
			 2004 200,100 32 29,900 12 
			 2003 200,100 32 31,200 13 
			 2002 208,300 34 31,100 14 
			 2001 220,400 37 33,100 14 
			 2000 217,100 37 33,000 14 
			 1999 229,800 40 37,100 16 
			 1998 235,900 41 33,100 16 
			 1997 259,800 44 38,200 17 
			 1996 270,100 46 37,200 17 
			 1995 259,300 45 37,800 18 
		
	
	(22)Figures have been rounded to the nearest hundred.

Graduate Employment

Jimmy Hood: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what research her Department has commissioned into employment rates of graduates; and if she will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: Graduates have very high employment rates, reflecting the economy's strong demand for these higher level skills that are developed through participation in higher education. Graduates are significantly more likely than non-graduates to be in work, as well as enjoying greater pay and wider benefits like better health.
	Data from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE) survey measures first degree graduate activity at a point six months after graduation. The most recent information, covering students who graduated in 2003/04, shows that 64 per cent. were in employment, 15 per cent. were undertaking further study, 9 per cent. were combining work with further study, and just 7 per cent. were unemployed. The remainder were not available for employment for various reasons.
	The survey data also shows early indication that students who have studied shorter, more vocationally oriented courses such as Foundation Degrees are less likely to be unemployed than other graduates. This is very encouraging as most of the future growth in student numbers will come through these courses. The data on Foundation Degree graduates show: 36 per cent. were in employment, 33 per cent. were in further study, 26 per cent. were in employment and study, and 3 per cent. were unemployed, six months after leaving their course.
	However, the main drawback of using the DLHE survey is that it is only a snapshot of the activity of graduates six months after graduation, which is not necessarily representative of their long-term employability. A study of the early careers of a sample of 1995 graduates shows employment rates rising rapidly in the months and years shortly following graduation, as the new graduates integrate into the labour market. By seven years after graduation, the overwhelming majority of graduates are in paid work or study, while just 1–2 per cent. of graduates remain unemployed 1 .
	A study that tracks the labour market outcomes of 1999 graduates up to four years after graduation will be published on the 27 October 2005.
	A cross-section of all (both recent and experienced) graduates in the labour market is available from the Labour Force Survey. Spring 2005 data shows that the employment rate of those with NVQ Level 4 and above as their highest qualification is significantly higher than those with lower qualifications.
	Reference:
	1 See Elias, P et al (2002) Moving On: Graduate Careers Three Years After Graduation", DFES/HECSU and Purcell, K. and Elias, P (2004): Seven Years On: Graduate Careers in a Changing Labour Market", HECSU.
	
		Employment and unemployment rates by highest qualification, England, spring 2005 -- Percentage
		
			  Employment rate Unemployment rate 
		
		
			 NVQ Level 4 and above 87 3 
			 NVQ Level 3 78 3 
			 NVQ Level 2 76 5 
			 Below NVQ Level 2 73 6 
			 No qualifications 48 9 
		
	
	Source:
	LFS, Spring 2005. Working-age population only.

Harlington Upper School

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on the effects on students at Harlington Upper School in Bedfordshire during recent examinations, on building works under a private finance initiative project.

Jacqui Smith: It is most regrettable if any disturbances are suffered by pupils during their public examinations. Officials have spoken to the local authority about this matter and the local authority has given its apologies for the disturbances suffered by the pupils concerned. The local authority envisaged that the measures put in place prior to the examination period would prevent any disturbance and acted to stop the noise as soon as problems were encountered. I am happy to confirm that all the details of the disturbances were reported to the examination boards so that due consideration could be given to the individual pupils involved.

Home Economics

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of (a) primary and (b) secondary schools have facilities for the practical teaching of food preparation.

Jacqui Smith: The information requested can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	Central Government capital support for investment in schools has increased from under £700 million in 1996–97 to £5.5 billion this year and will rise further to £6.3 billion by 2007–08. Progress is being made year-by-year in improving the quality of the school building stock.

Learning and Skills Council

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment she has made of the availability of college-certificated courses of changes in Learning and Skills Council funding allocations in (a) 2005–06 and (b) 2006–07.

Bill Rammell: We have been clear about our priorities for public funding of a place in school, college or an apprenticeship for all young people, and a focus on adults without a solid foundation of employability skills. Prioritising public funding and ensuring adults can gain a Skills for Life or first full Level 2 qualification inevitably means less public funding being available for lower priority or non-qualification bearing provision.
	However, we see no reason to close courses which people value but a new balance of responsibilities between Government, employers and learners is central to delivering our Skills Strategy.
	This requires a fundamental shift in expectations and practice about who pays for what. We will continue to provide fee concessions for learners on low incomes to access FE but we also expect adult learners, who can afford to do so, to make a contribution to the costs of their learning. Finding a new balance of responsibilities between Government, employers and learners is crucial.
	In addition we have safe guarded funding for non-vocational learning, delivered mainly through local authority adult education services. In 2004/05 we provided over £207 million to the LSC in support of this learning. This has risen to £210 million in 2005/06.

Post-16 Education

Michael Wills: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate she has made of the cost of raising per capita funding for 16 to 18-year-olds in further education colleges to the level of funding for 16 to 18-year-olds in schools.

Bill Rammell: Research conducted by the Learning and Skills Development Agency (LSDA) found the funding gap between school sixth forms and further education colleges to be in the region of 13 per cent. LSDA's report suggested complete closure of the gap would cost around £200 million. It also noted that the means of closing the gap should not be a large general increase in FE funding rates, but policy changes aimed at putting FE colleges and school sixth forms on a more equal footing. In light of this we are exploring the scope for addressing technical anomalies between school sixth form and further education systems and will be announcing decisions on the way forward shortly.

Recycling

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps her Department takes to ensure that furniture no longer required following school refurbishments is recycled or reused.

Jacqui Smith: We do not currently give any detailed guidance on this specific issue. However, as part of our forthcoming publication on sustainable schools we are consulting on new approaches to waste management. Re-cycling of products are mentioned in the section entitled 'our expectations'. This consultation will take place in January 2006.

School Meals

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment she has made of the provision of dining facilities in (a) primary schools and (b) secondary schools.

Jacqui Smith: The Department holds data on the condition and suitability of school buildings, supplied by authorities as part of Asset Management Planning. This includes a 'kitchen/dining' category.
	As part of the Department's Healthy Food in Schools initiative, we intend to commission a detailed survey of dining and kitchen facilities, which will form part of research for a forthcoming guide on school meals.
	Central Government capital support for investment in schools has increased from under £700 million in 1996–97 to £5.5 billion this year and will rise further to £6.3 billion by 2007–08. The BSF programme has committed £2 billion a year to remodel or rebuild every secondary school in England. The Primary capital programme of £150 million in 2008–09 and £500 million in 2009–10 will support a programme to renew at least half of all primary schools over the next 15 years. This will be an opportunity for any shortcomings in dining facilities to be addressed. Progress is being made year-by-year in improving the quality of the school building stock.

Special Measures

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many secondary schools in special measures are designated for replacement by city academies.

Jacqui Smith: There are currently 21 secondary schools in special measures which are being actively considered for replacement by academies.

Special Measures

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many (a) primary and (b) secondary schools have been in special measures for more than one year.

Jacqui Smith: Currently there are 68 primary schools and 52 secondary schools which have been in special measures for longer than 12 months. There are also five PRUs, two middle and 13 special schools which have been in special measures for more than 12 months.

Teacher Dismissals

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many teachers were dismissed for having sexual relations with pupils in London in each year since 1997.

Jacqui Smith: The information cannot be provided in the format requested.

Twenty-First Century Science Examination

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on the use of the OCR GCSE examination Twenty-First Century Science in secondary schools.

Jacqui Smith: The Twenty First Century suite of science GCSEs is being piloted in 79 centres, including community, foundation, voluntary aided and independent schools and one adult education college. Early indications from the pilot are that it has had a very positive effect. The new programme of study for science at Key Stage 4 will be introduced in schools in September 2006.

University Applications

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  how many students have applied through UCAS for university places in the United Kingdom in each of the last five years;
	(2)  how many students (a) successfully obtained and (b) failed to obtain a university place through the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service clearing system in each of the last five years;
	(3)  how many students have opted to defer entry to university in each of the last five years.

Bill Rammell: The latest available information for the last five completed application cycles is shown in the following table.
	
		UK and overseas applicants to full-time undergraduate coursesin the UK
		
			  Year of entry 
			  2000/01 2001/02 2002/03 2003/04 2004/05 
		
		
			 All applicants of which: 442,030 453,835 461,365 476,465 486,030 
			 Accepted for entry 339,745 358,040 368,115 374,305 377,545 
			 Not accepted 102,280 95,790 93,250 102,160 108,485 
			   
			 Accepted applicants who:  
			 Gained a place via clearing: 45,420 43,255 39,755 38,665 34,860 
			 UK students who deferred entry 22,705 26,170 26,930 26,440 25,935 
		
	
	Note:
	Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 5, so components may not sum to totals.
	Source:
	Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS)
	Final figures for the 2005/06 academic year will not become available until January 2006. However, the latest information from UCAS, based on the position at 26 September for each of the last three years, is shown in the following table:
	
		UK and overseas applicants to full-time undergraduate courses in the UK in 2005/06, as at 26 September
		
			  2003/04 2004/05 2005/06 
		
		
			 All applicants of which: 468,550 480,200 516,715 
			 Accepted for entry 363,140 369,695 398,215 
			 Not accepted 105,410 110,505 118,500 
			 
			 Accepted applicants who:
			 Gained a place via Clearing 35,140 32,775 34,965 
			 Deferred entry(23) n/a 25,910 28,240 
		
	
	n/a = not available
	(23)Figures for deferrals are based on the position as at 14 September.
	Note:
	Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 5, so components may not sum to totals.
	Source:
	Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS)

Vocational/Academic Education

Jimmy Hood: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what research her Department has commissioned into public attitudes towards (a) vocational and (b) academic education; and if she will make a statement.

Phil Hope: The Department has commissioned questions in the British Social Attitude Survey, a major annual independent survey undertaken by the National Centre for Social Research. In surveys prior to 2005 these questions included:
	If the respondent was to advise a 16-year-old about their future, whether they would say that they should stay in full-time education to get A levels, study full time to get vocational qualifications, or leave school to get a job (1990, 2002, 2004);
	In the long run, whether having good practical skills and training, or having good academic results gives people more opportunities and choice in life (1993, 1995, 2002, 2004).
	Additional questions were also added to the survey in 2005 to ask:
	Out of every 100 people finishing school at 16, how many do the respondents think go on to do academic qualifications, and how many do more work-related qualifications;
	How far respondents agree or disagree with the following statements:
	Only people who can't do academic qualifications should do vocational ones;
	Vocational qualifications are easier than academic qualifications;
	Most people don't understand what vocational qualifications are;
	Employers don't respect vocational qualifications enough;
	Schools should do more to encourage young people to do vocational qualifications.
	The National Centre for Social Research publishes the results of these surveys each year. Copies of the published reports are available in the DfES library. The results from the most recent surveys in 2004 and 2005 have not yet been published.
	The Department has commissioned the Public Perception of Education in 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2005. This is a survey of the general public of attitudes towards the education and skills system.
	Independently, the Learning and Skills Council published the results from a survey undertaken by BMRB. The survey asked respondents in Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Sweden whether they thought academic or vocational skills were most important for a career.
	Research provides a useful indicator of the general public's attitude on educational issues. The Department is aware that work-based learning is considered of lower status to academic learning. That is why we are introducing specialised Diplomas as part of our 14–19 White Paper reforms.

Volunteering

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many volunteering positions her Department has offered in each of the last five years.

Maria Eagle: My Department does not hold data on the number of volunteering positions offered in each of the last five years and could provide the information only at disproportionate cost.
	My Department is committed to offering volunteering opportunities to staff and to provide release time to undertake them. We have published a volunteering strategy and as of 1 October 2005, 246 staff members have taken part in volunteering activities in various capacities. Of this number, 102 are school governors and 12 mentors at universities. In addition, 132 staff are participating in volunteering activities in their local communities as part of the Community Service Volunteers initiative in November 2005. Another 44 have been trained as mentors for primary, secondary and university students.
	My Department remains committed to volunteering activity and working closely with Community Service Volunteers to increase the number of volunteering opportunities available to staff.

Youth Services

Edward Miliband: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much public funding was available for youth services in (a) England, (b) South Yorkshire and (c) Doncaster North in each of the last 10 years.

Phil Hope: Youth services are funded through the local authority and information about the level of funding is collected by local education authority (LEA) area. This information has only been available separately since 2000. Therefore, I am in a position to give funding levels for the Youth Service in England as a whole, and for the Youth Service within South Yorkshire and Doncaster by LEA area, from that date. However, it is not possible to provide information about Youth Service funding below LEA level in order to show the funding for Doncaster North.
	
		Youth Service funding levels -- £
		
			 Financial year England South Yorkshire Doncaster LEA 
		
		
			 2000–01 288,026,510 9,552,682 1,816,240 
			 2001–02 306,761,605 9,668,217 1 ,904,340 
			 2002–03 316,288,138 9,501,744 2,017,290 
			 2003–04 343,364,777 10,128,282 2,227,130 
			 2004–05 363,095,777 10,863,148 2,334,540 
			 2005–06 383,662,949 11,105,125 2,369,570

SOLICITOR-GENERAL

Serious and Complex Cases

Ben Wallace: To ask the Solicitor-General pursuant to the answers of 10 October 2005, Official Report, columns 1–2W, if he will list those serious and complex cases in which all proceedings are complete about which the Army Prosecution Authority consulted the Attorney-General since 1997.

Mike O'Brien: The Army Prosecuting Authority (APA) routinely consults the Attorney-General before directing trial in serious cases where there is joint jurisdiction. For instance a court martial has jurisdiction in cases where a person subject to military law faces a charge before court martial of murder/manslaughter committed outside the United Kingdom. Consequently, before directing trial in cases of murder or manslaughter committed outside of the United Kingdom the APA would consult the Attorney-General as a matter of course.
	In cases of offences committed against the criminal law of England and Wales, but committed outside of the United Kingdom and where the defendant has ceased to be subject to military law since committing the offence the APA is obliged by statute to obtain the consent of the Attorney-General before directing trial (section 132, sub-section 3A of the Army Act 1955).
	Recently the APA has consulted the Attorney-General regarding allegations of serious offences committed on military operations in Iraq. The Attorney-General has undertaken to inform Parliament when charges are brought in such cases.

Volunteering

Nick Gibb: To ask the Solicitor-General how many volunteering positions the Law Officers' Department have offered in each of the last five years.

Mike O'Brien: This answer covers the following Departments for which I am an accountable Minister, namely the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), the Treasury Solicitor's Department (TSol), HM CPS Inspectorate (HMCPSI), the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and the Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office (RCPO),
	Crown Prosecution Service
	The CPS supports volunteering in the community. It has a policy in place to encourage staff to share their knowledge, skills and lime, which includes the provision of one day's paid. leave.
	In addition, the Department has sponsored 53 staff in the last five years to take part in the Prince's Trust Volunteer Scheme and has just launched a campaign to encourage staff to join the Government Legal Service and Institute of Paralegals Pro-bono Schemes.
	The number of staff who undertake voluntary work is not recorded centrally. This information can, therefore, be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	TSol
	TSol does not offer volunteering positions itself but as a member of the Government Legal Service (GLS) has had a number of staff who have volunteered for the GLS Pro Bono Network, or as a magistrate, school governor or trustee of a charity.
	Additionally Treasury Solicitor's Department signed up to the Government's 'Active Communities Challenge' in April 2001, which allows staff one day's paid special leave per year to undertake 'community or voluntary work which is for the benefit of others outside their immediate friends and family'. The take up of this leave allowance in each of the last five years has been;
	
		
			  Individuals Days total 
		
		
			 2001–02 3 3 
			 2002–03 6 5.5 
			 2003–04 2 1 
			 2004–05 1 1 
			 2005–06 (24)0 (24)0 
		
	
	(24)To date
	HMCPSI
	Since 2000 HMCPSI has invited suitably informed members of the public, nominated by national organisations, to join the inspection process as lay inspectors, These inspectors are unpaid volunteers who examine the way in which the CPS relates to the public, through its dealings with witnesses and victims, its external communication and liaison, its handling of complaints and the application of the public interest test contained in the Code for Crown Prosecutors.
	The numbers recruited per year has decreased as only one lay inspector is needed for each inspection, and the policy is that all lay inspectors to have an opportunity to join an inspection team for two to four days throughout the year.
	
		
			  New lay inspectors inducted 
		
		
			 2000 16 
			 2001 28 
			 2002 11 
			 2003 0 
			 2004 2 
			 2005 1 
		
	
	HMCPSI also allows staff to apply for special leave for participating in voluntary service. We currently have one member of staff who is granted two days per year for voluntary work.
	SFO
	The SFO has offered and filled one volunteering position in the last five years. This was in 2003 and as part of the Prince's Trust Volunteer Scheme.
	RCPO
	RCPO, as a new Department, has not yet finalised a volunteering strategy but will consider requests under the current provision for special leave.
	RCPO does not maintain a central record of special leave.

TRANSPORT

A11

Richard Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects the regional consultation process on the dualling of the A11 in Suffolk will be completed.

Stephen Ladyman: Advice from Eastern region on its priorities for transport investment, including the A11 Fiveways to Thetford improvement scheme, within Regional Funding Allocations is expected at the end of January 2006.

Barge Drivers

Martin Linton: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the minimum period of training is for barge drivers on the Thames.

Stephen Ladyman: For barges trading to sea, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency stipulates an appropriate standards of training, certification and watchkeeping, (STCW 1995, International Maritime Organization) qualification and minimum training requirements.
	For barges trading within the port, there are no statutory training and qualification requirements in place at present. But those navigating commercially in the port would generally have either a Waterman's or Lighterman's licence. The new Boatmaster's Licence for Inland Waterways, due to become law during 2006, will extend competency requirements to freight carrying vessels in categorised waters

Burn Closes Bridge

Nick Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has received from North Tyneside borough council in relation to closure of Burn Closes Bridge in the interest of public safety.

Stephen Ladyman: Government Office for the North East officials have had several meetings during the last three years or so with North Tyneside council officials at which the council raised the need for major structural maintenance of a number of bridges in the borough. The Department for Transport provides specific funding for highway structural maintenance to bridges on the Primary Route Network and since 2003–04 has allocated funding totalling £3.224 million to the council for bridges in North Tyneside at Hadrian Road (A187) and the Coast Road (A1058) at Blue House. This funding is in addition to the £9.944 million local transport block" allocation to North Tyneside council since 2003–04.
	Burns Closes Bridge is not on the Primary Route Network and is not, therefore, considered to be an immediate national priority for funding. However, it is recognised that closure of the bridge pending maintenance/reconstruction work, is causing considerable inconvenience to local residents and bus services and therefore I have asked my officials to continue to liaise with the council as it considers the various options for addressing the problem, with a view to assessing the extent to which we are able provide support.

Congestion/Pollution

John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what research has been commissioned on the effects on levels of (a) congestion and (b) carbon emissions of the closure of local (i) post offices, (ii) banks and (iii) shops.

Stephen Ladyman: No such specific research has been commissioned.

Exeter Airport

Ian Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the Competition Commission's inquiry into Exeter airport.

Karen Buck: This is a matter for the Competition Commission and for the parties involved.

Left-hand Drive Vehicles

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many road accidents in England involved left-hand drive commercial vehicles in the last period for which figures are available.

Stephen Ladyman: Personal injury road accident data in Great Britain is collected by the police and reported to the Department using the STATS19 accident report format. Until 30 December 2004 this information included whether an involved vehicle had a foreign registration plate, but not whether it was right or left-hand drive. Due to concerns about the consistency and accuracy of the data collected, a recommendation to update this variable was accepted as part of the 5-year rolling review of the collection system. From 1 January 2005 the information collected will specifically distinguish left and right-hand drive foreign registered vehicles, but figures will not be available until autumn 2006.

Left-hand Drive Vehicles

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many accidents involving (a) loss of life and (b) injuries were caused by visitors from abroad failing to drive on the left-hand side of the road in England in the last period for which figures are available.

Stephen Ladyman: The information requested is not available.

Parliamentary Questions

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects to make a substantive response to the named day written question of 12 July from the hon. Member for West Chelmsford concerning rail passenger journeys between Chelmsford and London Liverpool Street.

Derek Twigg: holding answer 13 October 2005
	This information is not held centrally by the Department. However, data from the Office of Rail Regulation shows that the number of rail passenger journeys made between Chelmsford and Liverpool Street in 1997 was 1,675,280. The corresponding figure for 2003–04 was 2,122,388. Both figures include travelcard journeys.

Parliamentary Questions

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to his answer of 13 October to Question ref. 17108, what the reasons are for the time taken to provide a substantive answer to the question tabled on 12 July.

Derek Twigg: I will be writing to the hon. Member today and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Railway Staff

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what provision he is making for the protection of railway staff from assault.

Derek Twigg: The Secure Stations Scheme, directed by the Department for Transport and the British Transport Police (BTP), aims to improve the security of both passengers and staff.
	The Rail Safety and Standards Board's Rail Personal Security Group has taken a number of initiatives including publishing a good practice guide on the reporting and recording of staff assaults, and launching a poster campaign to highlight the unacceptability of assaults against rail staff.
	BTP have developed local initiatives in partnership with train operating companies including participating in conflict management training for rail staff, identifying repeat victims, sharing data with employers to identify specific risk areas and assisting victims of serious assault back into the workplace. They also pioneered the use of DNA kits for rail staff so they can capture suspects' DNA which police investigators then compare against the DNA database.
	The BTP is currently meeting its detection target of a 40 per cent. detection rate for staff assaults; the Scottish Area is currently detecting 60 per cent.; and the North Western Area just under 55 per cent.

Road Safety

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many and what proportion of fatal road traffic accidents have involved drivers under the age of 20 years in each of the last five years.

Stephen Ladyman: The information requested is in the table.
	
		Fatal road accidents involving one or more car(25) drivers aged under 20-years-old: 2000–04
		
			  Number As a percentage of all fatal road accidents 
		
		
			 2000 271 8.7 
			 2001 324 70.2 
			 2002 315 10.1 
			 2003 329 10.1 
			 2004 367 12.3 
		
	
	(25)Includes taxis, invalid tricycles, three and four wheel cars and minibuses.

Security Exercises (London Underground)

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what security exercises were undertaken by Visor consultants in or around London Underground stations in the week preceding 7 July.

Karen Buck: None.

Thames (Navigational Standards)

Martin Linton: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussion he has held with the Port of London Authority on navigational standards on the Thames.

Stephen Ladyman: The Port of London Authority (PLA) has been substantially involved at the national level, in the development and forthcoming introduction of the new Inland Waterways Freight Standards—both competency (Boatmasters Licence) and vessel technical standards. These standards will apply in UK categorised waters, which includes the Port of London.
	The PLA was also involved in the development of the Port Marine Safety Code.
	In addition, the Department has been working with the PLA on the development of transponder technology, which would allow passenger and large commercial vessels to track other such vessels. With the PLA, we are currently considering the practical implications of introducing this technology on the Thames.

Thames (Navigational Standards)

Martin Linton: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many Thames bridges have been struck by barges in the last (a) five and (b) 10 years; how many bridges have been closed as a consequence in each case; how many such strikes have been caused (i) in whole and (ii) in part by navigational errors; and how many involved barge drivers who were (A) undergoing training and (B) not fully qualified.

Stephen Ladyman: Thames bridges have been struck by self-propelled barges on three occasions in the last five years and by dumb barges under tow on two occasions.
	Thames bridges have been struck by self-propelled barges on four occasions in the last 10 years and by dumb barges under tow on six occasions.
	Bridges have been closed to road/rail traffic on three occasions as a result of the above incidents—Battersea Rail Bridge was closed overnight, then re-opened with a speed restriction until repairs were completed; Westminster Bridge had a footway on one side closed until repairs were completed and Battersea Bridge is currently open to buses, cyclists and pedestrians only.
	In addition, single bridge arches have been closed (all or in part) to river traffic on three occasions as a result of the above incidents.
	One incident is still under investigation but the remaining incidents all involved misjudgement or miscalculation by the person navigating.
	We are aware of one incident where the vessel was being navigated by the Mate, who was under the supervision of the Master at the time.

Thames (Navigational Standards)

Martin Linton: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what reports he has received on the causes of the recent strike at Battersea Bridge.

Stephen Ladyman: The PLA is currently investigating the incident under the Port of London Act 1968. It is also investigating the incident from a safety of navigation perspective. Both investigations are ongoing.
	MAIB is conducting an administrative enquiry and is awaiting the outcome of the PLA investigation before deciding if further action is required.
	The MCA has investigated this incident and has taken the view that it has no grounds for a prosecution under the Merchant Shipping Act 1995.

Western Orbital Route

Patrick Cormack: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he plans to re-instate the Western Orbital Route in the road programme; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Ladyman: A motorway scheme known as the Western Orbital Route was dropped from the Roads Programme in 1996. This remains the current position and there are no plans to re-instate the scheme.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Streets for All"

Michael Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the cost was of producing and distributing English Heritage's Streets for All", streetscape manual for the West Midlands.

David Lammy: The total cost of producing and distributing English Heritage's Streets for All", streetscape manual for the West Midlands Region is estimated at just over £48,000.

Alcohol Licences

Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  what assessment the Government have made of the impact of extending licences for the sale of alcohol in residential areas;
	(2)  what assessment the Government have made of the impact of extending licences for the sale of alcohol in areas with a high level of binge drinking.

James Purnell: The Government believes that current fixed opening hours encourage binge drinking before last orders and create flashpoints for conflict through late night queuing for transport and fast food. In addition, the current system only allows pubs, bars and clubs to have extended house if they provide music and dancing. This means that the late night economy is dominated by activities that carry greater risk of nuisance and are aimed primarily at the younger market. We anticipate that the Licensing Act 2003, which takes effect from 24 November, will enable a greater variety of premises to adopt flexible hours and also encourage a safer, more orderly and gradual dispersal of customers. The Act also provides the police with a raft of new powers for tackling disorderly and criminal behaviour and grants responsible authorities and interested parties, such as local residents, the right to challenge a licence application or to ask for a review of an existing licence. Recent feedback from local authorities confirms that local residents are already taking full advantage of their new rights. My Department will closely monitor and evaluate the impact of the Act on crime and disorder to ensure that the Act delivers on our promise to provide a more civilised late night society.

BBC Services

Michael Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will ensure that public value and market impact tests relating to BBC services are undertaken by Ofcom.

James Purnell: The Government's policy regarding public value and market impact tests relating to BBC services will be laid out in the forthcoming White Paper on BBC Charter Review.

BBC Services

Michael Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will define specific areas where the BBC should offer assistance to local commercial media in their migration from a traditional to a digital media platform.

James Purnell: The Government have no plans to require the BBC to offer such assistance to local commercial media.

BBC Services

Michael Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps she is taking to ensure transparency in the BBC's investments in local services.

James Purnell: The Green Paper on BBC Charter Review outlines a new plan for BBC governance with a view to ensuring openness and transparency. Policy in this area will be laid out in more detail in the forthcoming White Paper on BBC Charter Review.

Licensing

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many applications for (a) premises licences, (b) late night refreshment licences and (c) club premises certificates have been made in each local authority area; and how many and what percentage of such applications were rejected in each category.

James Purnell: holding answer 13 October 2005
	Comprehensive data on applications of the kind requested are not currently available, but my Department estimates that around 186,000 applications for premises licences and club premises certificates were submitted by 7 October 2005—about 93 percent. of the total applications expected.

Licensing

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the effects on community halls' budgets of the Licensing Act 2003.

James Purnell: Our aim has been to create a fair and effective licensing system that does not impose unnecessary costs and burdens. We believe that community halls will benefit from being able to provide a wide range of activities (such as live music, theatre or cinema) under a single licence, rather than having to apply for several licences and permissions as is the case under the current regime.
	Unless alcohol is to be sold at events, there will be no requirement for community halls to pay for the licence for regulated entertainment, such as live music, theatre, and cinema. Once this licence has been obtained, there will be no need for further applications, unless the terms of the licence need to be changed. In addition, halls should no longer be subject to high compliance costs of disproportionate standard conditions that often apply under the current public entertainment licensing regime.
	However, we are aware that some community and village halls have concerns about their ability to work within the new regime. We therefore asked action with communities in rural England (ACRE) to join our high level hroup of key stakeholders to represent these concerns. ACRE are conducting an evaluation project to review the impact of the act on village halls. The licensing fees review panel is also considering the impact of fees on a wide range of stakeholders, including community and village halls. We will consider carefully the evidence from these reviews and any recommendations to help community and village halls operate within the new regime.

TV Licences

Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many concessionary television licences for elderly people have been issued in each of the last two years, broken down by Northern Ireland parliamentary constituency.

James Purnell: TV Licensing, who administer free television licences for people aged 75 or over as agents for the BBC, are not able to provide geographical breakdowns of the number of concessionary licences issued. However, 2001 Census data indicate that the approximate number of individuals aged 75 or over living in each constituency in Northern Ireland was:
	
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 Belfast, East 7,474 
			 Belfast, North 6,498 
			 Belfast, South 6,488 
			 Belfast, West 4,083 
			 East Antrim 4,968 
			 East Londonderry 5,014 
			 Fermanagh and South Tyrone 5,723 
			 Foyle 4,203 
			 Lagan Valley 5,858 
			 Mid Ulster 4,333 
			 Newry and Armagh 5,229 
			 North Antrim 6,492 
			 North Down 7,301 
			 South Antrim 4,891 
			 South Down 5,798 
			 Strangford 5,850 
			 Upper Bann 5,590 
			 West Tyrone 4,344 
		
	
	Information is not held centrally on the number of retired people aged 60 or over in each parliamentary constituency living in accommodation which qualifies for the Accommodation for Residential Care concessionary scheme.

TV Licences

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many people were fined for not having a television licence in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

James Purnell: Information is available only for England, Scotland and Wales. Data for England and Wales relates to all offences under the Wireless Telegraphy Acts of 1949 and 1967 and data for Scotland to offences under the 1949 Act. Most though not all offences recorded under these Acts involve television licence evasion. The number of people fined in each of the last five years for which information was available was:
	
		
			  Number of people fined(26) 
		
		
			 1999(27) 55,280 
			 2000 105,203 
			 2001 83,200 
			 2002 95,757 
			 2003 81,126 
		
	
	(26)On the principal offence basis.
	(27)999 data for Scotland is incomplete.

HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION

Environmental Audits

Peter Law: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission what recent audits of (a) energy use, (b) energy efficiency, (c) waste disposal and (d) recycling in the House have been carried out.

Nick Harvey: Energy use and waste disposal and recycling related to the Parliamentary Estate are monitored monthly and trends are plotted in a monthly management report by the Serjeant at Arms. Energy efficiency is more complex to assess due to the difficulty of benchmarking similar buildings to the Palace of Westminster, a vast listed building used for long periods in the day: figures available do however demonstrate that energy consumption per square metre of floor area has reduced in recent years. An independent environmental survey of the parliamentary estate was completed by Urban Mines Ltd. last year, and a copy of the report was placed in the House of Commons Library.

CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

Asylum/Immigration

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many asylum appeals lodged (a) before and (b) after 4 April were processed and determined by the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal in (i) April, (ii) May, (iii) June, (iv) July, (v) August, (vi) September and (vii) October to date; and if she will make a statement.

Bridget Prentice: The latest provisional figures available from the electronic database of the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal (AIT) indicate that, at the end of June 2005, the number of asylum appeal decisions determined by the AIT in each month from April to the end of June 2005 is as follows:
	
		Asylum appeals determined which were lodged prior to4 April 2005
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 April 3,528 
			 May 3,025 
			 June 2,194 
		
	
	
		Asylum appeals determined which were lodged after4 April 2005
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 April 44 
			 May 246 
			 June 1,047 
		
	
	Statistical data confirming the numbers of asylum appeals determined in the period beyond June 2005 is not yet currently available.

Asylum/Immigration

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many (a) asylum appeals and (b) immigration appeals have been lodged with the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal since 4 April; and if she will make a statement.

Bridget Prentice: The latest provisional figures available from the database of the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal (AIT) indicate that, at the end of June 2005, 3,550 asylum appeals, and 8,200 immigration appeals (comprising in country and entry clearance cases but not family visitor appeals) had been lodged with the AIT.
	Statistical data confirming the numbers of appeals received beyond the end of June 2005 is not yet currently available.

Asylum/Immigration

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many (a) asylum appeals and (b) immigration appeals lodged with the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal and its predecessor bodies before 4 April are outstanding; and if she will make a statement.

Bridget Prentice: The latest provisional figures available from the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal (AIT) indicate that, at the end of June 2005, (a) 12,650 asylum appeals and (b) 17,550 immigration appeals (comprising in country and entry clearance cases but not family visitor appeals) were outstanding before the AIT.
	Outstanding cases are those either listed and awaiting hearing before an immigration judge, or appeals that have been heard and that await determination by the immigration judge.
	Statistical data confirming the numbers of outstanding appeals before the AIT beyond the end of June 2005 is not yet currently available.

Asylum/Immigration

Keith Vaz: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the current backlog is of cases at the Immigration Tribunal; how many are (a) asylum cases, (b) immigration cases and (c) family visitors cases; and what steps have been taken to reduce the backlog of cases.

Bridget Prentice: The latest provisional figures available from the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal (AIT) show that, at the end of June 2005, (a) 12, 650 asylum appeals, (b) 17,550 immigration appeals (comprising in country and entry clearance cases) and (c) 17,800 family visitor appeals, were outstanding before the AIT.
	Outstanding cases are those either listed and awaiting hearing before an immigration judge, or appeals that have been heard and that await determination by the immigration judge.
	The latest manual figures, as at 10 October 2005, show that approximately 36,800 appeals (of which 27,900 are family visitor cases and 8,900 are entry clearance immigration appeals) were awaiting initial acknowledgement and case management at the AIT. Those cases are considered to be backlogged.
	The AIT is taking recovery action to resolve the backlog of case processing. This includes a significant increase in administrative resource; process re-evaluation and changes; and the re-organisation of key functions. All backlogged cases are due to have been acknowledged and case managed initially by the end of December 2005, with appeals being heard over the course of 2006.

Consultants

Keith Vaz: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how much the Department spent on external consultants in 2004–05.

Bridget Prentice: This information is not held centrally by my Department but is collected on an annual basis. The data collection exercise relating to expenditure on consultancy in 2004–05 is currently underway, and on completion of it, details of the expenditure will be sent to the hon. Member.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Africa Directorate

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  what work the Africa Directorate is planning to outsource in 2005–06; and what criteria are used to decide which work is outsourced;
	(2)  what the Africa Directorate budget was in (a) 2002, (b) 2003, (c) 2004 and (d) 2005;
	(3)  how many people were employed in British embassies in Africa in (a) 2002, (b) 2003, (c) 2004 and (d) 2005;
	(4)  whether he plans to recruit additional staff to the Africa Directorate.

Ian Pearson: Since 2002 the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has increased its financial and human resources in Africa. The budget of the FCO's Africa Directorate rose from £35.1million in the financial year 2002–03 to £48.8 million in the current financial year (FY 2005–06). The budget for FY 2006–07 has not yet been finalised. The overall numbers of staff (FCO and locally engaged) employed in our posts in Africa increased from 2,221 in 2002 to 2,509 in 2005.
	There have been reductions in the overall numbers of staff in Africa Directorate in London as part of the broader reorganisation of the FCO to deliver the FCO's international strategy and to meet efficiency targets. The Directorate currently has 54 staff. There are no present plans to increase this. But in addition to staff in Africa Directorate itself, many other FCO personnel in London also work on Africa, including on counter-terrorism, sustainable development and human rights.
	The FCO and Africa Directorate regularly review the numbers, grading, functions and location of FCO staff in Africa in order to ensure the effective delivery of the Government's strategic priorities and value for money. Some posts in Africa contract out a number of services such as guarding, cleaning and estate maintenance. There are currently no plans to outsource any of the Directorate's core activities in the region.

Africa Directorate

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  if he will increase the budget of the African Directorate within the Department;
	(2)  for what reasons the staffing of the African Directorate has been reduced; and what steps are planned to review the effectiveness of the new arrangements;
	(3)  what criteria will be used by the African Directorate to determine in which African countries the UK has the most significant interests.

Ian Pearson: Since 2002 the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has increased its financial and human resources in Africa. The budget of the FCO's Africa Directorate rose from £35.1 million in the financial year 2002–03 to £48.8 million in the current financial year (FY 2005–06). The budget for FY 2006–07 has not yet been finalised. The overall numbers of staff (FCO and locally engaged) employed in our posts in Africa increased from 2,221 in 2002 to 2,509 in 2005.
	There have been reductions in the overall numbers of staff in Africa Directorate in London as part of the broader reorganisation of the FCO to deliver the FCO's international strategy and to meet efficiency targets. The Directorate currently has 54 staff. There are no present plans to increase this. But in addition to staff in Africa Directorate itself, many other FCO personnel in London also work on Africa, including on counter-terrorism, sustainable development and human rights.
	The FCO and Africa Directorate regularly review the numbers, grading, functions and location of FCO staff in Africa in order to ensure the effective delivery of the Government's strategic priorities and value for money. Some posts in Africa contract out a number of services such as guarding, cleaning and estate maintenance. There are currently no plans to outsource any of the Directorate's core activities in the region.

Ahmiddiya Muslims (Pakistan)

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations he has made to the Government of Pakistan about protecting the lives and property of the minority Ahmiddiya Muslims in the country, with particular reference to the shootings at the Ahmadiyya Mosque in Mundi Bahauddin on 9 October; and if he will make a statement.

Kim Howells: We regularly make known our concerns on the treatment of religious minorities, including Ahmiddiya Muslims, to the Government of Pakistan. We believe that collective action through the European Union is the most effective way of tackling these issues. The most recent European Union demarche to the Pakistani authorities of 20 June 2005 on human rights included the treatment of religious minorities. We have not made any specific representations regarding the shootings at the Ahmadiyya Mosque in Mundi Bahauddin on 9 October.
	The United Kingdom condemns instances where individuals are persecuted because of their faith, wherever it happens and whatever the religion of the individual or group concerned. We take a serious view of religious persecution in Pakistan and work with officials, religious leaders and non-governmental organisations at both international and local level to promote mutual understanding and tolerance.

Ambassadors/High Commissioners

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many ambassadors and high commissioners do not have a good working knowledge of the primary language of the country to which they are posted; and if he will make a statement.

Jack Straw: Save in posts where the primary language is English, all ambassadors and high commissioners are given language training before taking up their posts, usually to refresh existing language skills, to enable them to carry out essential business and representational work. We assess that at least 94 per cent. of them have a good knowledge of the working or at least one of the common working languages of the country to which they are posted. Many of our heads of mission in posts where hard languages are spoken will have qualifications to extensive level from their previous postings to those countries.

British Detainees/Prisoners

Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many British nationals are (a) being detained pre-conviction and (b) in detention serving sentences in (i) Egypt, (ii) Jordan, (iii) Turkey, (iv) Syria, (v) Lebanon, (vi) Iraq, (vii) Iran, (viii) Israel, (ix) Algeria, (x) Morocco, (xi) Libya, (xii) Tunisia, (xiii) Pakistan, (xiv) Nigeria, (xv) Sudan, (xvi) Ethiopia, (xvii) Saudi Arabia, (xviii) Oman, (xix) Yemen, (xx) Kuwait and (xxi) United Arab Emirates.

Kim Howells: On 30 September 2005, we were aware of the following numbers of British nationals detained pre-conviction and in detention serving sentences:
	
		
			  Number of British nationals: 
			  Country detained pre-conviction in detention serving sentences 
		
		
			 Egypt 0 5 
			 Jordan 1 0 
			 Turkey 0 1 
			 Syria 0 0 
			 Lebanon 0 0 
			 Iraq 2 0 
			 Iran 0 0 
			 Israel 0 2 
			 Algeria 0 0 
			 Morocco 1 10 
			 Libya 0 0 
			 Tunisia 2 0 
			 Pakistan 19 2 
			 Nigeria 0 0 
			 Sudan 0 0 
			 Ethiopia 0 1 
			 Saudi Arabia 0 1 
			 Oman 0 1 
			 Yemen 1 0 
			 Kuwait 1 0 
			 United Arab Emirates 2 9

Departmental Staff

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many people were employed in (a) Africa Command and (b) the Africa Directorate in each year between 2002 and 2005.

Ian Pearson: Since 2002 the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has increased its financial and human resources in Africa. The budget of the FCO's Africa Directorate rose from £35.1million in the financial year 2002–03 to £48.8 million in the current financial year (FY 2005–06). The budget for FY 2006–07 has not yet been finalised. The overall numbers of staff (FCO and locally engaged) employed in our posts in Africa increased from 2,221 in 2002 to 2,509 in 2005.
	There have been reductions in the overall numbers of staff in Africa Directorate in London as part of the broader reorganisation of the FCO to deliver the FCO's international strategy and to meet efficiency targets. The Directorate currently has 54 staff. There are no present plans to increase this. But in addition to staff in Africa Directorate itself, many other FCO personnel in London also work on Africa, including on counter-terrorism, sustainable development and human rights.
	The FCO and Africa Directorate regularly review the numbers, grading, functions and location of FCO staff in Africa in order to ensure the effective delivery of the Government's strategic priorities and value for money. Some posts in Africa contract out a number of services such as guarding, cleaning and estate maintenance. There are currently no plans to outsource any of the Directorate's core activities in the region.

Dr. Gomez de Martinez

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the UK has been asked to participate in the investigation into the death of Dr. John Gomez de Martinez.

Ian Pearson: Following the death of Dr. John Garang, First Vice President of Sudan, in a helicopter accident in Southern Sudan on 30 July, the international community was asked to assist in investigating the cause of the accident. The UK offered assistance and worked closely with international partners to ensure that a fully effective and well equipped investigation team was formed. In light of partners' assets and expertise already in the region, a UK contribution was not in the end required. The investigation team are currently evaluating data and will report when its findings are complete.

Malaya and Borneo Campaign Medals

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations have been received from the Malaysian Government on awarding a medal to the British veterans involved in campaigns in Malaya and Borneo; and what his response was.

Jack Straw: The Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak initially raised the matter of the Pingat Jasa Malaysia (PJM) medal with me in March. In reply, I was sympathetic, and agreed to pursue the matter with the appropriate authorities. I subsequently requested a review of the Government's rules on the accepting and wearing of non-British awards. The review, which is being co-ordinated by the Cabinet Office, the lead Department on Honours Policy matters, has not yet been completed. We are very conscious of how much the PJM medal means to veterans, and hope that the review will be completed soon.
	Since March, the Malaysian Agong (King) has referred to his Government's wish to present the PJM medal in conversations with my noble Friend the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Ministry of Defence (Lord Drayson), and with my hon. Friend the Minister for Trade and Foreign Affairs (Ian Pearson) in August. My hon. Friend explained to the Agong that the matter was under study.
	The question of the PJM has also been raised by the Chief of the Malaysian Armed Forces and senior officials in the Malaysian Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the British high commissioner in Kuala Lumpur in September and October. They were informed that the matter was currently under active consideration.

Ministerial Travel

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many air miles were accrued through ministerial travel in his Department in 2004–05, broken down by Minister; how many were (a) foregone and (b) donated to charity, broken down by charity; and whether air miles accrued by officials were required to be (i) foregone and (ii) given to charity.

Jack Straw: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) does not centrally accrue air miles for Ministerial and official travel nor does it centrally record air miles accrued by Ministers or staff.
	FCO Ministers are guided by the Ministerial Code which states that air miles and other benefits earned through travel paid for from public funds, other than where they are de minimis, should be used only for official purposes or else foregone. However there is no objection to Ministers donating them to charity if this is permissible under the terms of the airlines scheme and the charity is one chosen by the airline.
	FCO staff are not allowed to use air miles, frequent flyer points or similar incentives, built up from the purchase of tickets paid for from public funds for private purposes. These may only be used for official travel or to fund existing journey entitlements where there is no gain of monetary value (for example the use of special departure facilities or booking arrangements that go with some frequent flyer schemes).

Opium (Afghanistan)

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the Government's policy is on dealing with opium production in Afghanistan.

Kim Howells: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave the hon. Member for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton (Mr. Gibb) on 6 June 2005, Official Report, columns 234–35W, on the counter narcotics programme in Afghanistan.
	The UK, as lead nation on counter narcotics (CN), remains committed to supporting the Afghan Government in the implementation of their comprehensive 2005 CN Implementation Plan and in updating their National Drug Control Strategy. We continue to work with the Afghan Government and others to increase activity in all areas of their strategy. As well as co-ordinating the activity of international partners, we are providing substantial financial and practical support.
	On 5 September, I announced new UK funding for Afghan CN in a joint press conference with Afghan CN Minister Qaderi. The UK is spending in the region of £100 million this year on all CN activity, £50 million of which is for Alternative Livelihoods, and plan to spend over £270 million in financial years 2005–06, 2006–07 and 2007–08, which is a funding increase of £115 million.
	I intend to make a further statement to the House in the next month.

Overseas Service (Children's Education)

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what factors were taken into account in devising different funding formulae for the contribution made by the Government to the cost of education of children of armed forces personnel and children of diplomatic staff based overseas; and if he will make a statement

Jack Straw: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave on 18 July 2005, Official Report, column 1376W, which set out the background against which the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) pays school fees.
	With staff moving every 12–48 months and education facilities at posts' locations overseas varying, continuity of education can be problematic particularly during the important exam years. The FCO addresses this problem through its Continuity of Education Allowance (CEA), which enables children to board at school in the UK while their parents remain subject to the worldwide mobility obligation.
	CEA is based on ceilings, up to which boarding school fees are met. These are set annually at the median of the fees charged by the schools in the Headmasters' Conference within a 70-mile radius of London; most members of the Diplomatic Service have a home near London and choose schools in the south-east. Members of staff must cover the difference themselves if the fees of the boarding school they send their children to exceed the CEA ceilings. The cost of GCSE and A Level exams in subjects that form part of the national curriculum are refunded on top of CEA. The costs of Special Education Needs (SEN) for children who require it are also covered separately in accordance with the recommendations of the appropriate local education authority (LEA).
	The FCO does not hold information on the cost of education of children of armed forces personnel. This information is held by the Ministry of Defence.

Turkey

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with his Turkish counterparts regarding the imprisonment of Kurdish separatist leader Öcalan.

Douglas Alexander: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has had no discussions with the Turkish Foreign Minister regarding the imprisonment of Öcalan. However, our Embassy in Ankara has followed Öcalan's case closely since his arrest and held discussions with Turkish officials following the European Court of Human Rights ruling on 12 May that Öcalan's trial had not been fair.

Turkey

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions his Department has had with the European Court of Human Rights regarding Kurdish separatist leader Öcalan, imprisoned in Turkey.

Douglas Alexander: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has had no communication with the European Court of Human Rights regarding Öcalan, but has followed developments closely since the Court ruled on 12 May that Öcalan's trial had not been fair. The Council of Europe Committee of Ministers, whose role it is to oversee the implementation of Court judgments, discussed the case at their meeting on 11–12 October, and will do so again at their next meeting in late November. The Turkish authorities are reviewing the case-file to see whether the European Convention on Human Rights violations could have affected the verdict.

Turkey

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the Government's position on Turkey's property rights laws for its non-Muslim citizens.

Douglas Alexander: The Government are concerned that the draft Law on Foundations, though a considerable improvement on its predecessor, does not sufficiently address the issue of the return of immovable property to non-Muslim religious foundations. Enlargement Commissioner Rehn wrote to the Turkish Foreign Minister, Abdullah Gul, in June on shortcomings in the draft Law on Foundations and highlighted this specific issue. We continue to monitor the situation and as presidency have raised the matter with the Turkish authorities on a number of occasions.

UK Airspace

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the UK Government allows the use of UK airspace for the extraordinary rendition of those accused of terrorist activities.

Kim Howells: The Government are not aware of the use of their territory or airspace for the purposes of 'extraordinary rendition'. The Government have not received any requests, nor granted any permissions, for the use of UK territory or airspace for such purposes.
	Under UK and international law, carriers on technical stopovers are not obliged to provide a passenger list, or even, under the Chicago Convention and the US/UK bilateral Air Services Agreement, to obtain permission from the Government to refuel.
	The Government's policy is not to deport or extradite any person to another State where there are substantial grounds to believe that the person will be subject to torture or where there is a real risk that the death penalty will be applied.

Visitor Visa Appeals

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many visitor visa appeals lodged (a) before and (b) after 4 April are outstanding; and if he will make a statement.

Bridget Prentice: I have been asked to reply.
	The latest provisional figures available from the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal (AIT) indicate that, at the end of June 2005, 17,800 family visitor appeals were considered as outstanding before the AIT.
	Outstanding cases are those either listed and awaiting hearing before an immigration judge, or appeals that have been heard and that await determination by the immigration judge.
	Statistical data confirming the numbers of family visitor appeals outstanding beyond the end of June 2005 is not yet currently available. It has not been possible to provide further information on the numbers of family visitor appeals lodged both before and after the 4 April 2005 without incurring disproportionate costs.

WORK AND PENSIONS

CSA

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps his Department is taking to monitor (a) the performance of the Child Support Agency database and (b) the accuracy of CSA payments.

James Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive, Mr. Stephen Geraghty. He will write to the hon. Member with the requested information.
	Letter from Stephen Geraghty to Mr. Jim Cunningham, dated 19 October 2005
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to monitor (a) the performance of the Child Support Agency database and (b) the accuracy of Child Support Agency payments.
	The Child Support Agency has put in place a series of measures along with their suppliers to ensure satisfactory performance of the new computer system including, but not limited to its database. These measures include detailed reporting of service performance and regular meetings to review the effectiveness of the current service. Any issues identified are dealt with promptly by expert resource from both the Department and its IT suppliers.
	The Secretary of State sets an accuracy target and receives regular reports from the Agency, which are independently maintained by the Monitoring and Guidance Unit. The Monitoring and Guidance Unit's checks are supplemented by local checks to identify the areas on which we focus attention.
	I hope you find this response helpful.

Financial Assistance Scheme

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much has been paid to date by the Financial Assistance Scheme, broken down by pension scheme.

Stephen Timms: No payments have yet been made by the Financial Assistance Scheme. We hope to be in a position to make the first payments before the end of the calendar year.

Pathways to Work

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the impact of the incapacity benefit pathways to work pilots as of June on (a) inflows to jobseeker's allowance, (b) levels of economic inactivity and (c) numbers of people in paid employment.

Margaret Hodge: Information on the impact of the incapacity benefit pathways to work pilots is not yet available.
	The 'Destination of Benefit Leavers 2004' report found that nationally 52 per cent. of incapacity benefit leavers returned to, or started, work of 16 hours or more.
	A further 18 per cent. moved onto another working age benefit, which in 72 per cent. of cases was jobseeker's allowance. This indicates that 13 per cent. of incapacity benefit leavers flowed onto JSA.
	This information (as well as findings for lone parent, sick and disabled and JSA unknown destination leavers) can be found in the DWP Research Report no. 244—'Destination of Benefit Leavers 2004', which is available in The Library.

Pension Credit

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in each London constituency (a) received state pension, (b) applied for pension credit and (c) received pension credit in each of the last three years; and what the average pension credit payment was in each year.

Stephen Timms: The latest available information is in the tables. Information on the number of people who have applied for Pension Credit is not available in respect of individual constituencies. Pension Credit was introduced from October 2003.
	
		Number of state pension recipients within the parliamentary constituencies contained within the London Government office region as at 30 September in the years 2002 to 2004
		
			  September 
			  2002 2003 2004 
		
		
			 Barking 11,200 10,600 10,200 
			 Battersea 9,100 8,600 8,800 
			 Beckenham 17,400 16,800 16,900 
			 Bethnal Green and Bow 11,500 11,100 10,800 
			 Bexleyheath and Crayford 15,600 15,500 15,800 
			 Brent East 10,100 9,700 9,900 
			 Brent North 11,300 11,300 11,500 
			 Brent South 9,600 10,100 10,200 
			 Brentford and Isleworth 14,700 14,800 14,800 
			 Bromley and Chislehurst 18,300 18,400 18,500 
			 Camberwell and Peckham 7,600 7,800 7,600 
			 Carshalton and Wallington 14,300 13,800 14,100 
			 Chingford and Woodford Green 15,800 15,900 16,000 
			 Chipping Barnet 15,400 15,700 15,800 
			 Cities of London and Westminster 13,000 12,900 12,900 
			 Croydon Central 16,400 16,600 16,600 
			 Croydon North 13,900 13,900 13,800 
			 Croydon South 17,500 17,500 17,600 
			 Dagenham 13,700 13,800 13,800 
			 Dulwich and West Norwood 11,800 12,000 11,600 
			 Ealing North 15,200 15,000 14,800 
			 Ealing, Acton and Shepherd's Bush 12,600 12,900 12,900 
			 Ealing, Southall 13,900 13,600 13,500 
			 East Ham 10,500 10,400 10,100 
			 Edmonton 14,700 14,300 13,700 
			 Eltham 13,400 13,300 13,100 
			 Enfield North 13,500 13,400 13,400 
			 Enfield, Southgate 16,200 16,400 16,700 
			 Erith and Thamesmead 11,300 10,900 11,100 
			 Feltham and Heston 13,000 13,100 13,400 
			 Finchley and Golders Green 17,200 17,200 16,600 
			 Greenwich and Woolwich 11,400 10,800 10,700 
			 Hackney North and Stoke Newington 9,300 8,900 8,400 
			 Hackney South and Shoreditch 9,200 8,800 8,900 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 12,600 12,300 12,200 
			 Hampstead and Highgate 11,900 11,700 11,500 
			 Harrow East 17,200 17,700 17,800 
			 Harrow West 14,700 14,700 15,400 
			 Hayes and Harlington 10,600 10,300 10,200 
			 Hendon 14,800 14,600 15,000 
			 Holborn and St. Pancras 9,700 9,300 9,100 
			 Hornchurch 14,800 15,000 15,200 
			 Hornsey and Wood Green 12,000 12,100 12,400 
			 Ilford North 16,200 16,300 16,100 
			 Ilford South 12,200 11,900 12,100 
			 Islington North 9,500 9,100 9,600 
			 Islington South and Finsbury 9,900 9,500 9,800 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 13,200 13,100 13,000 
			 Kingston and Surbiton 16,200 16,000 15,800 
			 Lewisham East 11,700 12,100 12,100 
			 Lewisham West 11,500 11,400 10,900 
			 Lewisham, Deptford 7,600 7,400 7,500 
			 Leyton and Wanstead 10,800 10,700 11,000 
			 Mitcham and Morden 13,100 12,700 12,600 
			 North Southwark and Bermondsey 10,800 10,300 10,100 
			 Old Bexley and Sidcup 17,800 17,600 18,000 
			 Orpington 21,000 21,300 21,500 
			 Poplar and Canning Town 10,400 10,300 10,100 
			 Putney 10,800 10,600 10,400 
			 Regent's Park and Kensington North 14,400 14,400 14,500 
			 Richmond Park 15,700 15,600 15,700 
			 Romford 14,100 14,600 14,300 
			 Ruislip-Northwood 14,200 14,600 14,700 
			 Streatham 11,000 10,700 10,500 
			 Sutton and Cheam 15,800 15,300 15,300 
			 Tooting 10,300 9,900 9,900 
			 Tottenham 10,400 10,800 10,800 
			 Twickenham 15,400 15,700 15,600 
			 Upminster 16,900 16,800 16,400 
			 Uxbridge 12,000 12,200 11,800 
			 Vauxhall 9,900 9,600 9,700 
			 Walthamstow 10,700 10,700 10,700 
			 West Ham 9,300 9,100 9,200 
			 Wimbledon 13,000 13,000 13,100 
			 Total 963,300 956,900 956,300 
		
	
	
		The number of pension credit recipients and average award within the parliamentary constituencies contained within the London Government office region as at February 2004 and 2005
		
			  February 2004 February 2005 
			  Number Amount (£) Number Amount (£) 
		
		
			 Barking 3,500 53.48 4,300 50.05 
			 Battersea 2,800 56.19 3,100 51.92 
			 Beckenham 2,200 48.71 2,600 44.84 
			 Bethnal Green and Bow 6,500 71.78 7,200 70.93 
			 Bexleyheath and Crayford 2,600 37.60 2,900 37.31 
			 Brent East 3,600 69.70 4,300 64.46 
			 Brent North 2,800 75.20 3,200 68.30 
			 Brent South 4,000 73.70 4,500 71.88 
			 Brentford and Isleworth 3,300 62.32 3,900 60.11 
			 Bromley and Chislehurst 2,800 45.08 3,200 43.22 
			 Camberwell and Peckham 3,800 55.30 3,900 53.89 
			 Carshalton and Wallington 2,500 44.20 3,100 46.23 
			 Chingford and Woodford Green 3,100 49.34 3,600 48.47 
			 Chipping Barnet 2,400 49.84 2,800 52.92 
			 Cities of London and Westminster 2,900 61.72 3,500 63.16 
			 Croydon Central 3,500 49.49 3,800 50.94 
			 Croydon North 4,300 58.31 4,700 57.91 
			 Croydon South 2,300 45.94 2,500 48.99 
			 Dagenham 4,000 49.49 4,800 49.08 
			 Dulwich and West Norwood 3,000 50.91 3,600 55.80 
			 Ealing North 3,300 71.12 4,100 67.40 
			 Ealing Southall 4,600 71.45 5,100 69.92 
			 Ealing, Acton and Shepherd's Bush 4,300 62.72 4,900 61.86 
			 East Ham 4,400 71.01 5,100 74.24 
			 Edmonton 4,300 55.34 4,600 53.68 
			 Eltham 2,900 48.59 3,500 47.58 
			 Enfield North 3,200 57.02 3,900 54.20 
			 Enfield, Southgate 2,700 61.66 3,400 58.06 
			 Erith and Thamesmead 2,900 51.39 3,700 50.44 
			 Feltham and Heston 3,900 60.97 4,400 59.12 
			 Finchley and Golders   Green 3,800 60.70 4,000 60.69 
			 Greenwich and Woolwich 3,500 50.54 4,100 49.89 
			 Hackney North and Stoke Newington 4,800 69.04 5,100 70.78 
			 Hackney South and Shoreditch 4,600 73.51 5,000 68.68 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 3,500 62.86 3,900 66.14 
			 Hampstead and Highgate 3,300 62.18 3,900 59.81 
			 Harrow East 4.200J 69.63 4,800 68.22 
			 Harrow West 2,800 72.49 3,300 67.13 
			 Hayes and Harlington 2,400 60.03 2,900 56.88 
			 Hendon 3,300 61.96 3,900 63.25 
			 Holborn and St Pancras 4,300 63.06 4,800 64.04 
			 Hornchurch 2,200 39.50 2,600 37.47 
			 Hornsey and Wood Green 3,700 62.71 4,300 62.67 
			 Ilford North 3,000 55.75 3,500 59.94 
			 Ilford South 3,200 69.05 3,800 64.37 
			 Islington North 4,500 63.87 5,000 61.31 
			 Islington South and Finsbury 3,900 57.46 4,400 54.93 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 2,900 53.41 3,200 51.69 
			 Kingston and Surbiton 2,800 53.66 3,300 52.04 
			 Lewisham East 3,200 53.16 3,500 52.16 
			 Lewisham West 2,900 44.99 3,400 41.35 
			 Lewisham, Deptford 3,300 62.00 3,700 60.33 
			 Leyton and Wanstead 3,200 55.46 3,800 53.48 
			 Mitcham and Morden 3,000 55.02 3,500 50.61 
			 North Southwark and Bermondsey 4,200 59.16 5,200 57.43 
			 Old Bexley and Sidcup 2,200 43.62 2,900 40.07 
			 Orpington 2,500 41.93 3,100 41.07 
			 Poplar and Canning Town 5,400 70.12 5,900 66.45 
			 Putney 2,300 52.85 2,800 51.22 
			 Regent's Park and Kensington North 5,600 72.12 6,500 71.63 
			 Richmond Park 2,500 51.51 2,800 49.09 
			 Romford 2,300 45.61 2,700 41.60 
			 Ruislip—Northwood 1,900 45.50 2,200 41.44 
			 Streatham 3,700 66.28 4,400 63.12 
			 Sutton and Cheam 2,300 44.12 2,800 38.37 
			 Tooting 2,900 57.55 3,400 57.99 
			 Tottenham 4,800 70.19 5,300 68.04 
			 Twickenham 2,000 45.39 2,500 39.93 
			 Upminster 2,800 40.16 3,300 38.62 
			 Uxbridge 2,300 53.04 2,800 49.35 
			 Vauxhall 4,100 61.74 4,900 58.95 
			 Walthamstow 3,900 59.67 4,200 58.41 
			 West Ham 4,300 65.36 4,800 65.39 
			 Wimbledon 1,800 52.85 2,300 51.21 
			 Total recipients/average award 248,600 59.23 286,800 57.61 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Figures are taken from five per cent samples and are therefore subject to sampling variation.
	2. Caseloads are rounded to the nearest 100.
	3. Parliamentary Constituencies and Government Office Regions are assigned by matching postcodes against the relevant Office for National Statistics postcode directory.
	4. The state pension data are taken as at 30 September for the relevant years.
	5. The pension credit data are taken as at 29 February 2004 and 28 February 2005.
	6. Pension credit replaced the minimum income guarantee on 6 October 2003.
	Source:
	Information Directorate, 5 per cent. samples

Pensions Ombudsman

Andrew Pelling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the pensions ombudsman's budget for the 2005–06 financial year is.

Stephen Timms: The pensions ombudsman's allocation for 2005–06 is £2.120 million. This includes both staff and non-staff costs.

TREASURY

Bank Notes (Northern Ireland)

Peter Robinson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many bank notes of each denomination from each bank in Northern Ireland were in circulation in the last period for which figures are available.

Ivan Lewis: Under the Bankers (Northern Ireland) Acts 1845 and 1928, commercials banks in Northern Ireland who are permitted to issue their own banknotes, are only required to provide information to the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs on the value of their notes in circulation as at close of business on each Saturday and according to denominations of (i) under £5 and (ii) £5 and above.
	The following table provides the latest information available on the average value of notes in circulation as at close of business on each Saturday in the four weeks ending Saturday 13 August 2005. The Commissioners, as required by the Act, published this information in the Belfast Gazette on Friday 14 October 2005.
	
		£
		
			  Denomination 
			 Issuing bank £5 and upwards Under £5 Total 
		
		
			 Bank of Ireland 536, 003, 736 278, 105 536,281,841 
			 First Trust Bank 298.255,250 0 298,255,250 
			 National Bank 41,835 19,672 61,507 
			 Northern Bank 216,676,860 444,248 217,121,108 
			 Ulster Bank 332,265,166 76.963 1332,342,129

Child Trust Fund Vouchers

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many Child Trust Fund vouchers had been issued up to 30 September; how many of these have been cashed; and if he will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: Information on the number of Child Trust Fund vouchers issued and the number of accounts opened is published quarterly on the HMRC website (http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/child_trust_funds/child-trust- funds.htm). The latest set of figures was published on 31 August.

Customs and Excise (Northern Ireland)

Peter Robinson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many specialist detector dogs are in use by Customs and Excise in Northern Ireland; and what they are specifically used to detect.

Dawn Primarolo: Detector dog teams based at Manchester and Hull provide support to Northern Ireland. Customs confirm that since April 2004, there have been 14 deployment exercises to Northern Ireland. Most deployments consist of two dogs, able to detect drugs and cash. Two of the deployments were for drugs and tobacco.

Drug/Alcohol Deaths

Paul Burstow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many deaths of people aged (a) under 18 and (b) over 18 years in (i) London and (ii) each London borough there have been where the use of (A) heroin/morphine, (B) ecstasy, (C) amphetamines, (D) other substances and (E) alcohol was recorded as the cause in each year since 1997.

John Healey: The information requested falls with the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Karen Dunnell to Mr. Paul Burstow, dated 19 October 2005
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many deaths of people (a) under 18 and (b) over 18 years in (i) London and (ii) each London borough where the use of (A) heroin/morphine, (B) ecstasy, (C) amphetamines, (D) other misuse of substances and (E) alcohol was recorded as the cause there have been in each year since 1997. (18650)
	Relevant figures are only readily available for deaths where the underlying cause was either related to drug poisoning or directly related to alcohol (alcohol abuse, dependence and poisoning, and diseases directly related to alcohol use, such as chronic liver disease and cirrhosis). It is not possible to identify from death certificates which substance was the primary cause when more than one was involved.
	There were three deaths from chronic liver disease and cirrhosis among those aged under 18 in Greater London in the period 1997 to 2004, and none from other causes linked to alcohol using the ONS definition. Examination of the certificates suggests that these three deaths were not in fact alcohol-related.
	There were 14 deaths involving drug misuse among residents of Greater London aged under 18 in the period 1997 to 2003, with fewer than five deaths in each of the categories requested (heroin/morphine, ecstasy, and amphetamines). In order to maintain confidentiality of information supplied to ONS by coroners for statistical purposes only, precise numbers cannot be provided for this age group.
	For alcohol-related deaths, figures for those aged 18 and over are provided in Table 1 below by individual year of registration of death. For drug-related poisoning deaths, figures for those aged 18 and over are provided in Table 2. For reasons of confidentiality, these drug-related poisoning data, have been provided for rolling five-year periods and figures have been suppressed where necessary.
	It should be noted that:
	The figures for alcohol-related deaths include the long-term effects of alcohol use. Such as cirrhosis of the liver, whereas the figures for drugs all relate to poisoning from drug use.
	Deaths from poisoning which involved both drugs and alcohol are coded as being due to drug poisoning, in accordance with international rules for coding cause of death.
	The figures on alcohol include only those where the underlying cause was alcohol related. The figures on specific drugs include any mention of the substance where the death was related to drug poisoning.
	The figures on alcohol are for deaths registered in the calendar year and are based on the original underlying cause of death. The figures on drugs are for deaths occurring in the calendar year and are based on the final underlying cause of death and confidential additional information supplied by coroners to ONS.
	For these reasons the figures provided for drug-related poisoning and alcohol-related deaths are not comparable.
	
		Table 1: Alcohol-related deaths(28) to usual residents of London boroughs aged 18 and over, deaths occurring 1997–2001, 1998–2002, and 1999–2003
		
			  1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 
		
		
			 (i) Greater London 746 787 829 805 809 838 834 772 
			  
			 (ii) Borough 
			 City of London 0 0 1 1 0 1 2 0 
			 Barking and Dagenham 12 16 23 14 18 19 17 15 
			 Barnet 19 18 17 22 29 23 32 18 
			 Bexley 16 22 20 26 25 27 27 17 
			 Brent 33 40 40 32 30 40 25 33 
			 Bromley 21 24 24 30 27 26 21 29 
			 Camden 40 37 41 28 44 35 27 27 
			 Croydon 32 30 43 34 33 26 43 23 
			 Ealing 32 28 34 31 37 38 44 39 
			 Enfield 17 19 25 22 13 21 28 26 
			 Greenwich 20 29 31 32 29 25 25 26 
			 Hackney 13 21 27 16 19 21 25 29 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 20 30 23 25 26 24 25 35 
			 Haringey 27 13 23 23 21 20 19 25 
			 Harrow 23 20 20 13 14 17 16 22 
			 Havering 17 13 14 9 14 24 19 18 
			 Hillingdon 34 25 23 16 26 27 30 43 
			 Hounslow 18 38 29 31 29 32 46 28 
			 Islington 25 36 22 25 32 26 22 13 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 16 16 20 28 16 21 14 13 
			 Kingston upon Thames 11 18 18 13 24 19 16 13 
			 Lambeth 33 41 35 40 32 28 34 33 
			 Lewisham 32 28 30 24 29 41 32 32 
			 Merton 18 23 18 22 19 22 21 13 
			 Newham 28 19 33 29 28 33 32 36 
			 Redbridge 27 19 24 26 16 24 16 21 
			 Richmond upon Thames 16 17 19 17 15 29 29 23 
			 Southwark 35 28 28 37 40 31 35 28 
			 Sutton 11 10 21 18 10 17 9 12 
			 Tower Hamlets 23 22 27 30 18 25 26 20 
			 Waltham Forest 15 21 12 21 21 18 19 16 
			 Wandsworth 28 29 31 32 41 24 30 21 
			 Westminster 34 37 33 38 34 32 28 25 
		
	
	(28) For the years 1997–2000 the cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) codes 291, 303, 305.0, 425.5, 571, E860. For the years from 2001 onwards the cause of deaths was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes F10, 142.6, K70, K73, K74, X45.
	Deaths were selected using the original underlying cause.
	The selection of codes to define alcohol-related deaths is described in:
	Baker A. and Rooney C. (2003). Recent trends in alcohol-related mortality, and the impact of ICD-10 on the monitoring of these deaths in England and Wales, Health Statistics Quarterly" 17. pp 5–14.
	
		Table 2: Deaths from drug-related poisoning(29) involving selected drugs,(30) to usual residents of London boroughs aged 18 and over, deaths occurring 1997–2001,1998–2002, and 1999–2003
		
			  (A) Heroin/morphine (B) Ecstasy (C) Amphetamines 
			  1997–2001 1998–2002 1999–2003 1997–2001 1998–2002 1999–2003 1997–2001 1998–2002 1999–2003 
		
		
			 (i) Greater London 367 347 321 28 32 32 40 45 42 
			   
			 (ii) Borough  
			 City of London (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— 
			 Barking and Dagenham (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— 
			 Barnet 16 18 16 (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— 
			 Bexley 6 5 5 (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— 
			 Brent 11 13 10 (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— 
			 Bromley 7 7 6 (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— 
			 Camden 15 15 15 (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— 
			 Croydon 6 (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— 
			 Ealing 13 11 8 (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— 
			 Enfield 8 7 9 (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— 
			 Greenwich 21 20 18 (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— 
			 Hackney 8 6 8 (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 19 17 18 (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— 5 
			 Haringey 20 19 19 (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— 
			 Harrow 6 6 4 (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— 
			 Havering (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— 
			 Hillingdon 15 12 13 (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— 
			 Hounslow 6 9 10 (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— 
			 Islington 14 10 9 (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 6 6 7 (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— 
			 Kingston upon Thames 6 7 6 (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— 
			 Lambeth 44 40 33 (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— 
			 Lewisham 20 18 12 (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— 
			 Merton 6 6 6 (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— 
			 Newham 12 12 12 (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— 
			 Redbridge 5 6 6 (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— 
			 Richmond upon Thames 9 9 8 (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— 
			 Southwark 11 10 10 (31)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— 
			 Sutton 8 9 10 (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— 
			 Tower Hamlets 11 13 11 (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— 
			 Waltham Forest 12 8 7 (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— 
			 Wandsworth 13 11 8 (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— 
			 Westminster 5 7 8 (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— 
		
	
	
		
			  (D) Other misuse(31) Total misuse deaths(32) 
			  1997–2001 1998–2002 1999–2003 1997–2001 1998–2002 1999–2003 
		
		
			 (i) Greater London 957 877 756 1,362 1,268 1,118 
			
			 (ii) Borough   
			 City of London (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— (33)— 
			 Barking and Dagenham 9 8 7 15 12 10 
			 Barnet 23 25 24 40 43 40 
			 Bexley 12 14 14 19 20 20 
			 Brent 27 20 13 39 33 23 
			 Bromley 20 23 22 29 32 29 
			 Camden 108 99 79 124 115 94 
			 Croydon 18 19 17 27 27 26 
			 Ealing 16 17 14 30 30 23 
			 Enfield 22 21 25 31 29 34 
			 Greenwich 23 21 23 46 43 43 
			 Hackney 38 33 26 48 42 37 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 49 39 36 70 59 58 
			 Haringey 25 24 23 47 46 44 
			 Harrow 15 10 6 24 19 14 
			 Havering (33)— (33)— (33)— 8 7 8 
			 Hillingdon 14 14 16 32 29 31 
			 Hounslow 15 14 12 21 24 23 
			 Islington 48 49 43 63 59 52 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 41 38 34 50 47 43 
			 Kingston upon Thames 18 18 13 24 25 19 
			 Lambeth 71 69 64 117 111 100 
			 Lewisham 32 33 26 53 53 39 
			 Merton 25 19 18 31 25 24 
			 Newham 18 14 8 30 26 20 
			 Redbridge 18 14 13 23 20 19 
			 Richmond upon Thames 16 14 12 27 26 23 
			 Southwark 61 58 52 73 69 62 
			 Sutton 6 5 6 14 15 17 
			 Tower Hamlets 29 25 24 42 39 37 
			 Waltham Forest 23 18 13 37 27 22 
			 Wandsworth 33 28 18 46 39 26 
			 Westminster 76 69 49 82 77 58 
		
	
	(29)Cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases. Ninth Revision (ICD-9) codes 292, 304, 305.2–305.9, E850-E858, E950.5, E962.0 and E980.0-E980.5 for 1997 to 2000, and the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes F11-F16, F18-F19, X40-X44, X60-X64, X85 and 10-Y14 from 2001 onwards.
	(30)Drugs mentioned on the death certificate of a death where the underlying cause was drug poisoning.
	(31)Drug misuse deaths where heroin/morphine and amphetamines not mentioned.
	(32)As some deaths may be counted in more than one drug column, the numbers cannot be added together to give total misuse deaths.
	(33)Data suppressed due to confidentiality considerations.

London (Population)

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer on what basis the level of provision for doubtful debt relating to tax credit overpayments as reported in the Department of Inland Revenue 2004–05 Accounts was determined; whether the provision is calculated on a (a) specific and (b) general basis; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: The provision for doubtful debt relating to tax credits is a general provision, not a specific provision made in respect of itemised debts. The provision represents a prudent estimate of tax credit debt that might be written off in future and has been calculated taking into account the experience of recovery to date.

Mutual Societies

David Drew: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the role of mutual societies in the UK economy.

Ivan Lewis: The Government welcome the contribution made by mutual societies, in competition with other providers, in providing for greater choice and diversity in the economy. For example, where credit unions serve members in particularly deprived areas, they can be vital in targeting the poorest communities and connecting people to more mainstream financial opportunities. On a larger scale, the 63 building societies in the UK have total assets approaching £250 billion and service around 18 per cent. of the mortgage market.

National Insurance

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the cost of reducing the lower earnings limit by (a) £2, (b) £5, (c) £10, (d) £15, (e) £20, (f) £30 and (g) £3; and how many (i) men and (ii) women would start paying national insurance contributions as a result of each such reduction.

Dawn Primarolo: The main effect of reducing the LEL on contribution income will be on contracted-out rebates. Class 1 contributions are not paid on earnings below the primary threshold. The total effect on contribution income in 2006–07 is shown in the table.
	
		Table 1: The effect on the national insurance fund if the LEL is reduced by stated amounts in 2006–07(34)
		
			 Reduce LEL per week by: 2006–07 (£ million) 
		
		
			 £2 -70 
			 £3 -110 
			 £5 -180 
			 £10 -360 
			 £15 -540 
			 £20 -720 
			 £30 -1,080 
		
	
	(34)Figures are for UK accruals and are in cash in terms
	The effect on benefit payments would not start for at least a year after the change in the LEL (because of the form of the contributions conditions) and would build-up very slowly. Table 2 shows the cost for the first five years, assuming that the change in the LEL took place in April 2006.
	
		Table 2: The cost of extra benefit payments if the LEL is reduced by stated amounts in 2006–07 -- £ million
		
			 Reduce LEL per week by: 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 
		
		
			 £2 0 0 0 10 20 
			 £3 0 0 10 20 20 
			 £5 0 0 10 30 40 
			 £10 0 0 20 50 80 
			 £15 0 0 30 80 110 
			 £20 0 0 40 100 150 
			 £30 0 0 60 160 230 
		
	
	(35)Figures are for UK accruals and are in cash terms
	The costs will continue to grow in the future as the extra entitlement to retirement pension (both basic and S2P) builds-up.
	The extra number of jobs entitled to benefit is shown in Table 3.
	
		Table 3: The extra number of jobs entitled to benefit if the LEL is reduced by stated amounts in 2006–07(36) -- Thousand
		
			 Reduce LEL per week by: Males Females 
		
		
			 £2 20 60 
			 £3 30 90 
			 £5 40 140 
			 £10 90 280 
			 £15 140 390 
			 £20 180 500 
			 £30 260 730 
		
	
	(36)Figures are for UK
	Note:
	Some of the above will be second jobs, whose occupants are already entitled to benefit from their main job.

Online Tax Collection

Vincent Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he expects the April 2006 deadline for online tax collection for sub-contractors to be met; what arrangements are being made to assist operators who are unable to work the new system; and if he will make a statement.

John Healey: Reform of the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) was announced in Budget 2003 and legislated in the Finance Act 2004. From the outset, the changes have been developed in close consultation with industry representatives, in particular through the work of the Construction Industry Reform Implementation Panel, which met again today.
	The industry has agreed to strengthen cooperation with HM Revenue and Customs including in planning a full joint testing programme for the new verification services and monthly contractors' returns, promoting the use of the new employment status declaration and analysing areas of non-compliance in the industry. And the Government have also agreed with the industry to extend from April 2006 to April 2007 the period for implementation of the final elements of the new CIS.
	During this period, HMRC will step up its level of advice and compliance activity with the industry, including new interactive online software and up to 70 telephone advisers to provide help with employment status from next month.

Private Pensions

Sarah Teather: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number and percentage of people living in London who have a private pension.

Stephen Timms: I have been asked to reply.
	In 2003–04 the number of people contributing to a private pension in London is estimated to be 1.7 million. This represents 38 percent. of the working age population.
	In addition, 0.7 million people in London are estimated to be in receipt of a private pension.
	Notes:
	1. All figures are estimates and are taken from the Family Resources Survey (FRS). 2003–04 is the latest year for which data is available.
	2. Members who are 'contributing' to a private pension scheme include those who are building up rights within a salary related scheme, those who are currently contributing to a scheme or whose employer makes a contribution on their behalf. Private pension refers to either an occupational, personal or stakeholder pension scheme.
	3. Those individuals who contribute to both occupational and personal pension schemes are only counted once in the final figure.
	4. For those who are in receipt of a private pension, this includes payments received from occupational and personal pension schemes, widow's employee pensions, trade union and friendly society pensions, annuity pensions, trusts and covenants.
	Source:Family Resources Survey 2003–04.

Proceeds of Crime Act

John Randall: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what amounts have been recovered by (a) HM Revenue and Customs, (b) the Metropolitan police and (c) other relevant agencies under the provisions of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 at Heathrow airport or as a result of crime committed at Heathrow airport since the Act came into force.

Dawn Primarolo: The recovery of criminal proceeds by the police or other agencies is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary or other Ministers as appropriate.
	The total amount recovered under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 in connection with activity by HM Revenue and Customs at Heathrow airport is £4,259,000.

Search-and-rescue Organisations

David Mundell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will allow search-and-rescue organisations an annual grant to offset irrecoverable VAT payments made during the previous year.

Ivan Lewis: As part of the wide range of VAT reliefs for charities, charities providing rescue or first aid services can purchase VAT free the specialised telecommunications, aural, visual, light enhancing or heat detecting equipment which they use. These charities are also able to buy medicines, medical equipment, and ambulances free of VAT. In addition, charities like the RNLI which provide rescue or assistance at sea, do not pay VAT on the purchase of lifeboats and certain related equipment, or on the costs of having these lifeboats repaired or maintained. However, agreements with our European partners mean that it is not now possible to extend the scope of the zero rates available to charities.
	No Government have considered the issue of irrecoverable VAT more seriously than this one. We have conducted two major reviews to see if we could find an efficient, affordable and principled solution.
	Through these reviews, we came to two conclusions: first, that it would not be an affordable or efficient use of public resources to reimburse all 250,000 charitable bodies in the UK for the VAT they incur, regardless of the activities they are involved in or their financial health, and which, according to estimates from the charitable sector, would cost over £500 million per year; and second, that there was no fair and principled basis on which we could decide that some charities would be reimbursed their VAT and some would not.
	As a result of Gift Aid and other measures, we are currently providing nearly £2.5 billion worth of support to charities through the tax system each year, including over £200 million in VAT reliefs. This forms part of the total Government support for the voluntary and community sector, which stands at over £3.3 billion per year.

Tax (Late Payment Fines)

Peter Robinson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much was raised from fines imposed by (a) Her Majesty's Customs and Excise and (b) the Inland Revenue for (i) late completion of tax forms and (ii) late payment of tax owed in the last five financial years.

Dawn Primarolo: Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs charge interest, penalties and surcharge for the following purposes;
	Interest is charged to provide restitution to Government for taxes paid late and to cancel the immediate financial advantage for those who pay taxes late over those who pay on time.
	Surcharge is used to encourage prompt payment and 'stepped' rules for calculating surcharge have been designed to increase the incentive to pay liabilities that are late.
	Penalties are intended to encourage customers to submit returns by the due date.
	Indirect Taxes (VAT)
	Revenue received from penalties for late submission/payment of VAT returns.
	
		
			  Year ending Surcharge paid for late payment of VAT (£ millions) 
		
		
			 March 01 87 
			 March 02 76 
			 March 03 90 
			 March 04 99 
			 March 05 99 
		
	
	Direct Taxes
	The former Inland Revenue accounting year runs till the end of October and revenue raised from interest, penalties and surcharge are shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Year ending Interest paid for late payment of direct taxes (£ millions) 
		
		
			 October 2000 351.89 
			 October 2001 420.76 
			 October 2002 389.52 
			 October 2003 406.49 
			 October 2004 400.77 
		
	
	
		
			  Year ending Surcharges paid for late payment of direct taxes (£ millions) 
		
		
			 October 2000 50.84 
			 October 2001 59.34 
			 October 2002 67.51 
			 October 2003 66.80 
			 October 2004 62.49 
		
	
	
		
			  Year ending Penalties paid for late submissions of returns (£ millions) 
		
		
			 October 2000 64.57 
			 October 2001 74.26 
			 October 2002 81.63 
			 October 2003 89.89 
			 October 2004 86.59

Tax Credits

Adrian Bailey: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  if he will introduce tax credits for self-employed low earners;
	(2)  what tax provisions are available to help self-employed low earners.

Dawn Primarolo: Working tax credit and child tax credit are available for both employed and self-employed earners. Both employed and self employed earners may become eligible for working tax credit if they work 16 hours or more a week and so self employed earners on low incomes are already supported by working tax credits.
	Help can also be provided with the costs of child care for those workers in receipt of working tax credit. This can be for up to 70 per cent. of the total child care costs incurred to a maximum of £175 a week for one child and £300 a week for two or more children.

Tax Credits

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate of the cost of tax credit overpayments in 2004–05 has been given to the National Audit Office; and when the final figure will be available.

Dawn Primarolo: In order to produce the provision for irrecoverable debt estimates for the Trust Statement, which UK accounting standards require us to make, HM Revenue and Customs needed to make an assessment of 2004–05 overpayments. As there was no information or data on which to make such an assessment, it was decided to use a stylised and prudent assumption, reproducing the same figure from 2003–04.
	Estimates of level of 2004–05 overpayments as at 5 April 2005 will be published as National Statistics in spring 2006.

VAT

Douglas Carswell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much Customs and Excise collected in VAT revenue during the last financial year for which figures are available.

Dawn Primarolo: The total amount of VAT revenue received in the last financial year was:
	2004–05—£73,058 million
	Information on revenue from VAT can be found in the HM Revenue and Customs 'Annual Report', which will be published on the HM Revenue and Customs website at the end of this month.

HEALTH

Childhood Leukaemia

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment she has made of the link between childhood leukaemia and overhead power lines.

Caroline Flint: The Department's radiation protection research programme supports a number of studies investigating the possible health effects of electromagnetic fields (EMF). A study by Dr. Draper and colleagues on childhood leukaemia and distance from power lines, recently published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) and funded under this programme, has added to a large existing body of work in this area (BMJ Vol 330, 4 June 2005).
	The Health Protection Agency's radiation protection division (HPA-RPD) keeps the world-wide research findings on EMF continually under review. In 2004, on the basis of a comprehensive review of the existing body of research to date, the HPA-RPD (previously the National Radiological Protection Board) recommended the adoption of new EMF exposure guidelines in this country. In addition, in view of the scientific uncertainties, the HPA recommended the Government consider the need for further precautionary measures" in relation to power frequency electromagnetic fields. They have also noted that the majority of elevated magnetic fields are due to variations in the electricity supply and distribution system, the presence of substations and equipment in the home rather than proximity to power lines.
	Practical precautionary measures are now being considered in detail by a stakeholder advisory group that includes the Government Departments, agencies, electricity industry, specialists and public concern groups. Details of the process can be found on the website at: www.rkpartnership.co.uk/sage

Teenage Pregnancies

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made towards achieving targets for the reduction of conception by women under the age of 18 years.

Beverley Hughes: I have been asked to reply.
	Between 1998 (the baseline year for the Teenage Pregnancy Strategy) and 2003 (the latest year for which data are available) the under-18 conception rate in England has fallen by 9.8 per cent. The under-16 rate has fallen by 9.9 per cent. over the same period.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Autism

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland which of the Department's Priorities for Action for 2005 involve autism.

Shaun Woodward: The Department's priorities for 2005–06 onwards have been conveyed to Boards and Trusts, and they are working together to achieve the associated targets and actions. The priorities require that Boards and Trusts develop strategies to address waiting lists for patients requiring therapy services, which includes autism, and should develop support services for Asperger's Syndrome, a specific form of autism. The Department is monitoring their progress towards these goals

Breast Cancer

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many breast cancer patients in Northern Ireland are being treated with Herceptin.

Shaun Woodward: There are currently 80 breast cancer patients being treated with Herceptin in Northern Ireland.

Breast Cancer

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the availability of the breast cancer treatment drug Herceptin in Northern Ireland; and what plans he has to increase its availability, with particular reference to newly diagnosed breast cancer patients.

Shaun Woodward: Herceptin is available to every breast cancer patient in NI, who is judged by their oncologist to have a clinical need for the drug in the advanced disease setting. It is not currently licensed for use in the treatment of early stage breast cancer.
	My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health has said that as soon as Herceptin has been licensed for use by those patients with early stage breast cancer suitable for treatment it will be fast-tracked by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) in relation to its availability throughout the NHS. NICE guidance does not automatically apply in Northern Ireland. However, the quality of its advice is well recognised and the HPSS will normally take it into account when deciding on its priorities for the future funding of new drugs.

CCTV

Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 
	(1)  what plans he has to increase the CCTV coverage in East Belfast;
	(2)  what criteria are used by Government when choosing sites for CCTV cameras.

Shaun Woodward: CCTV coverage and positioning are police operational matters. Questions on how CCTV resources are allocated are essentially matters for the Chief Constable in response to policing priorities.

Departmental Computer Fraud/Theft

Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many cases of computer (a) hacking, (b) fraud and (c) theft his Department recorded in each year since 2001; and how many times computers have been illegally accessed by computer hackers (i) within and (ii) outside his Department.

Shaun Woodward: The following table refers to the Northern Ireland Office and does not include figures for the 11 departments of the Northern Ireland Administration.
	
		Number of cases
		
			  2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 
		
		
			 (a) Computer hacking 2 0 0 0 
			 (b) Computer fraud 0 0 0 0 
			 (c) Computer theft 1 2 0 2 
			 (i) Illegal accesses by computer hackers within his Department 1 0 0 0 
			 (ii) Illegal accesses by computer hackers outside his Department 1 0 0 0

Domestic Rates

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the projected revenue to be raised from domestic rates in Northern Ireland is forecast to be in 2006–07.

Angela Smith: Domestic rates consists of two elements, the regional rate, set by the Secretary of State on a uniform basis across Northern Ireland, and the district rate, set separately by each district council relevant to the location of the property.
	For 2006–07, the current forecast revenue from the regional domestic rate, on the basis of the levels announced by the Secretary of State in December 2004, is £229.8 million. Regional rate levels are reviewed annually and any proposed adjustments are announced by the Secretary of State before the start of the relevant financial year.
	Revenue from the district rate is a matter for individual district councils.

Drugs

Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much cash has been seized from operations against drug dealing in Northern Ireland since 2000.

Shaun Woodward: Officers from Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs have seized cash totalling £59,280 in operations against drug dealing in Northern Ireland since 2000. The amount of criminal assets restrained or confiscated by the Police Service of Northern Ireland runs into millions of pounds annually however information relating to cash seized during operations against drug dealing is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
	Since its inception in 2003 the Assets Recovery Agency has frozen some £4 million from individuals where the primary criminality was believed by the agency to be drugs related. So far houses, cars and other property to the value of just under £1 million have been handed over to the agency for disposal.

Drugs

Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what amount of drugs has been seized by the Police Service of Northern Ireland in each of the last three years.

Shaun Woodward: The quantity of drugs seized and the number of seizures made by the Police Service of Northern Ireland from 1 April 2002 to 30 September 2005 are detailed in the following tables.
	
		
			  2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 
			 Drugs seized Number of seizures Amount seized Number of seizures Amount seized Number of seizures Amount seized 
			 Class A   
		
		
			 Cocaine:   
			 Powder (gms) 44 3,023.9 77 11,470.9 87 21,331.6 
			 Wraps 3 12 2 6 3 24 
			 'Crack' (gms) 1 50.0 3 9.2 0 0.0 
			
			 Ecstasy:   
			 Tablets 258 605,188 342 222,888 317 351,296 
			 Powder (gms) 2 1.1 9 72.1 6 43.41 
			 Capsules 5 25 1 20 2 4 
			
			 LSD:   
			 Doses 1 4 0 0 7 1,134 
			 Microdots 2 1 1 6 2 7,012 
			
			 Opiates:   
			 Powder (gms) 21 346 14 189.9 14 5.1 
			 Tablets 1 41 1 3 5 57 
			 Ampoules 1 1 1 20 0 0 
			 MIs 14 428.5 13 163.6 5 202.2 
			 Wraps 1 1 2 2 0 0 
			
			 All Class A1 335 — 431 — 429 — 
			
			 Class B   
			 Amphetamine:   
			 Powder (kgs) 83 27.6 130 17.3 147 79.1 
			 Wraps 9 24 9 35 3 24 
			 Tablets 4 11 2 58 1 32 
			
			 Barbiturates:   
			 Tablets 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			
			 All Class B1 (38)1,534 — (38)1,703 — (38)151 — 
			
			 Class C (Cannabis)3   
			 Cannabis(39):   
			 Resin (kgs) 1,366 709.5 1,819 2,204.2 1,841 933.0 
			 Herbal (kgs) 78 27.7 109 32.8 131 19.7 
			 Plants 29 202 59 1,173 43 574 
			 Oil (gms) 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Joints 104 169 138 212 132 208 
			
			 All Cannabis1 1,487 — 1,984 — 2,021 — 
		
	
	(37)As seizure incidents can involve more than one drug type, seizure figures for individual drugs cannot be added together to produce totals.
	(38)Cannabis was reclassified from Class B to Class C on 29 January 2004, as such Class B totals include cannabis seizure incidents prior to reclassification.
	(39)For presentation purposes, total seizures of Cannabis are presented together regardless of class.
	
		1 April 2005–30 September 2005
		
			 Drugs seized Number of seizures Amount seized 
		
		
			 Class A   
			 Cocaine:   
			 Powder (gms) 75 15,950.19 
			 Wraps 3 4 
			 'Crack''(gms) 2 1.01 
			
			 Ecstasy:   
			 Tablets 105 7,758 
			 Powder (gms) 3 9.10 
			 Capsules 1 10 
			
			 LSD:   
			 Doses 10 205 
			 Microdots 1 2 
			 Opiates:   
			 Powder (gms) 15 198.02 
			 Tablets 1 1 
			 Ampoules 0 0 
			 MIs 8 72.14 
			 Wraps 0 0 
			
			 Class B   
			 Amphetamine:   
			 Powder (gms) 55 57,994.97 
			 Wraps 4 9 
			 Tablets 2 155 
			
			 Class C   
			 Cannabis:   
			 Resin (gms) 979 301,366.92 
			 Herbal (gms) 67 64,600.27 
			 Plants 14 612 
			 Oil (gms) 0 0.00 
			 Joints 78 99

Education and Library Boards

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many occurrences there have been in the last six months of Education and Library Boards reinstating services outside their agreed financial schemes, broken down by (a) date and (b) type of service.

Angela Smith: There have not been any occurrences in the last 6 months of Education and Library Boards reinstating services outside their agreed financial schemes (now known as resource allocation plans).

Employment

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when the Equality Commission intends to publish the latest monitoring report into employment patterns in Northern Ireland.

Angela Smith: The Equality Commission for Northern Ireland anticipates publishing the 'Fair Employment Monitoring Report No 15—A Profile of the Northern Ireland Workforce' by the beginning of December.

Equality Commission

Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many complaints have been made against the Equality Commission in each of the last three years.

Angela Smith: There have been 10 complaints made against the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland in the last three years. Four complaints were made in 2003; four complaints were made in 2004; and two complaints have been made in 2005.

Freedom of Information

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many individuals in each Government Department in the Province are employed to deal with freedom of information requests.

Angela Smith: It is not possible to identify precisely the number of officials who deal with freedom of information issues, since it is potentially part of every civil servant's role to respond to Freedom of Information requests. However, one of the primary support functions of Information Management staff is to deal with these requests, plus requests made under the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004. The number of Information Management staff who help to process requests within each Department is cited in the following table.
	
		
			 Department Information Management (including FOI) staff 
		
		
			 Northern Ireland Office 2.5 
			 Department of Environment 6 
			 Department for Regional Development 5 
			 Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (40)8.5 
			 Department of Education 4 
			 Department for Social Development 3 
			 Department for Employment and Learning 4 
			 Department of Finance and Personnel 4 
			 Department of Agriculture and Rural Development 6 
			 Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment 2 
			 Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety 4 
			 Office of the First and Deputy First Minister (41)5 
		
	
	(40)This figure includes 5.5 people processing requests in the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland.
	(41) This figure includes 2 people from the central FOI team.

Frozen Assets

Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the organisations whose assets have been frozen in Northern Ireland due to links with terrorism in each of the last 10 years.

Shaun Woodward: Law enforcement agencies have fully utilised proceeds of crime powers to freeze assets from individuals. Assets totalling nearly £12 million were restrained or confiscated by law enforcement agencies in 2004–05. These actions were taken against individuals.
	Records indicate that no organisations have had their assets frozen due to links with terrorism in the last 10years.

Grant Maintained Independent Schools

David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has to allocate funds to grant maintained integrated schools to employ staff in order to implement the Costello review of post primary education; and if he will make a statement.

Angela Smith: The Department of Education has allocated additional funds to the Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education to enable it to support and facilitate schools in the integrated sector in beginning to develop collaborative arrangements with other schools and with FE colleges to provide access to the curricular Entitlement Framework, and generally to support work by integrated schools to prepare for the implementation of the new post-primary arrangements.
	Additional funds have also been allocated to the education and library boards, the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools and Comhairle na Gaelscola-" ochta in respect of their school sectors. The Department is in correspondence with the Governing Bodies Association about support for the voluntary grammar school sector.

Hip Replacements

Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many hip replacement operations were carried out in each of the last five years.

Shaun Woodward: Information on the number of hip replacement operations carried out in acute hospitals in Northern Ireland in each year from 2000–01 to 2004–05 (the latest year for which data is available) is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Number of hip replacement operations 
		
		
			 2004–05 2,385 
			 2003–04 2,166 
			 2002–03 2,092 
			 2001–02 1,976 
			 2000–01 2,051

Hospital Beds

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many hospital beds there were in each health trust in the Province in June 1997.

Shaun Woodward: Information on the average number of available in-patient beds during the quarter ending June 1997, is shown in the following table. Average available beds are defined as the average number of beds available during the quarter in wards that are open overnight, measured at midnight. Hospitals may also have a number of beds in wards, which are only open during the day. Beds reserved for day case admission or regular day admission are not included.
	
		Average number of available beds in Northern Ireland,quarter ending June1997
		
			 Trust name Average available beds 
		
		
			 Altnagelvin Area Hospitals HSS Trust 493.1 
			 Armagh and Dungannon HSS Trust 454.1 
			 Belfast City Hospital HSS Trust 878.2 
			 Causeway HSS Trust 346.7 
			 Craigavon and Banbridge HSS Trust 80.0 
			 Craigavon Area Hospital Group HSS Trust 660.8 
			 Down and Lisburn HSS Trust 676.6 
			 Foyle Community HSS Trust 327.0 
			 Greenpark HSS Trust 422.3 
			 Homefirst Community HSS Trust 384.0 
			 Mater Infirmorum HSS Trust 207.8 
			 Newry and Mourne HSS Trust 278.4 
			 North and West Belfast HSS Trust 484.0 
			 South and East Belfast HSS Trust 384.0 
			 Sperrin Lakeland HSS Trust 644.1 
			 The Royal Group of Hospitals HSS Trust 928.8 
			 Ulster Community and Hospitals HSS Trust 688.2 
			 United Hospitals HSS Trust 877.4 
			 Northern Ireland 9,215.4 
		
	
	Source:
	Hospital Information Branch.

Hospital Beds

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the percentage bed occupancy in each hospital in the Province has been over each of the last 10 years.

Shaun Woodward: For percentage bed occupancy figures in each hospital for 1994–95 to 2003–04, I refer the hon. Lady to the Hospital Statistics publications for each year 1994–95 to 2003–04. Copies of this publication are available in the Library. Table 1.1, Inpatient Activity Data by Hospital/Provider, contains the relevant information.
	Provisional figures for percentage bed occupancy in each hospital in Northern Ireland in 2004–05 are given in the following table. Note that day cases are excluded from the calculation for bed occupancy.
	
		Percentage bed occupancy by hospital for 2004–05(42) 
		
			 Hospital Percentage 
		
		
			 Belfast City 86.6 
			 Belvoir Park NICCO 86.5 
			 Windsor House 99.5 
			 Forest Lodge 73.7 
			 Forster Green 63.2 
			 Musgrave Park 76.0 
			 Knockbracken Health Care Park 86.8 
			 Shaftesbury Square 10.0 
			 Young Peoples Centre 75.5 
			 Ards 93.3 
			 Bangor 88.3 
			 Ulster 89.0 
			 RBHSC 67.9 
			 Royal Maternity 70.9 
			 Royal Victoria 88.6 
			 Mater Infirmorum 90.2 
			 Muckamore Abbey 94.6 
			 Downe 87.8 
			 Downshire 97.0 
			 Lagan Valley 81.9 
			 Lagan Valley P.N.U 100.0 
			 Thompson House 95.0 
			 Causeway 79.4 
			 Dalriada 77.8 
			 Robinson Memorial 79.6 
			 Holywell 93.9 
			 Whiteabbey P.N.U 92.6 
			 Antrim 76.4 
			 Braid Valley 93.8 
			 Mid Ulster 74.5 
			 Moyle 93.5 
			 Whiteabbey 94.4 
			 Longstone 89.4 
			 Mullinure 86.4 
			 Oaklands 63.2 
			 St. Lukes 77.4 
			 Banbridge(43) 0.0 
			 Craigavon Area 79.9 
			 Lurgan 89.1 
			 South Tyrone 92.2 
			 Daisyhill 75.0 
			 Craigavon P.N.U 94.1 
			 Altnagelvin Area 80.8 
			 Waterside 76.7 
			 Gransha 90.4 
			 Roe Valley 89.3 
			 Stradeagh 93.4 
			 Waterside-Foyle 87.4 
			 Erne 66.5 
			 Tyrone and Fermanagh 83.2 
			 Tyrone County 80.5 
			 Northern Ireland 84.2 
		
	
	(42)Provisional
	(43)Banbridge hospital only has day cases which are excluded from the calculation for bed occupancy.

Hospital Negligence (Compensation)

Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much money was claimed in compensation by patients due to (a) negligence and (b) malpractice in each hospital in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years, broken down by health board.

Shaun Woodward: The information is not available in the form requested and could only be provided at a disproportionate cost.

Hospital Operations (Cancellations)

Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the average number of operations which have been cancelled in each hospital or trust in Northern Ireland has been in each quarter in the last three years.

Shaun Woodward: This information is not collected centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Hydebank Wood Centre

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps he has taken to implement the recommendations by the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission for improving conditions for female prisoners at the Hydebank Wood Centre in Belfast.

Shaun Woodward: The Prison Service has placed women prisoners' needs centre stage, and has made significant progress against the recommendations made by both the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (NIHRC) and the CJINI/HMCIP Inspection Team in its report on Ash House published in May 2005.
	Key developments to date include:
	1. Recognition of the special needs of women in custody, with gender specific programmes and policies, including policies on:
	The Management of Mothers and Babies
	Suicide and Self Harm
	Child Protection / Public Protection
	Resettlement
	Anti-bullying
	Induction
	First Night
	Drugs and Alcohol
	Foreign Nationals
	Policies on these topics will shortly be issued for consultation.
	2. Ash House now has a distinct gender specific identity, supported by a discrete management structure:
	A NIPS female Governor dedicated to the management of female prisoners is now in place.
	A female Governor, on secondment from HMPS, was appointed on 20 June to lead the development of the regime for Ash.
	The majority (75 per cent.) of staff in the unit are female.
	Prisoners have access to women staff at all times.
	3. Child-centred visits are being further developed. Additional monthly child centred visits are available for life sentenced prisoners. NIPS is exploring the possibility of allowing children to stay overnight with their mother in prison occasionally.
	4. Women prisoners have access to a wider range of education, work and rehabilitative programmes specifically linked to the skills requirements of women prisoners, which should enhance their prospects of acquiring employment upon release from custody. They also have access to a working out scheme. Specifically:
	NIPS conducted a detailed analysis on the re-integration needs of women prisoners. This was published on 7 October and has already resulted in:
	the opening of a careers advice surgery, run by NIACRO;
	PBNI providing a dedicated re-integration worker before the end of the year to support women before and after release; and
	the appointment of a bereavement counsellor early in 2006 with the support of CRUSE.
	Courses offered vary from numeracy and literacy to A-level Psychology, and include cookery, music, drama and aromatherapy; CLAIT is also available and NVQ's are due to be available from March 2006.
	Five new teachers are being appointed and two new VT Instructors.
	5. All women receive a healthcare screening on committal to prison and they are offered the opportunity to join a well women" clinic. There is 24 hour nursing care available and women prisoners have access to a female doctor. A Health Needs assessment of the women in Ash House is scheduled for later this year. Psychologists are currently preparing an in-depth analysis of the offending behaviour needs of women prisoners and the prisoners will be consulted extensively in its development.
	6. The Prison Service is committed to gender specific training of the staff working with women prisoners. Training already delivered includes:
	Child Awareness
	Cultural Diversity
	Housing Rights
	Management of Aggression
	Mental Health Awareness
	Mother and Baby
	Prisoner Management
	Further training will include:
	Working with females in custody
	Working with vulnerable females in custody
	Dealing with Mental Health Issues
	Presentation Skills for Induction
	Lifer training
	Suicide Awareness
	Nature of Adolescence
	7. On self-harm and suicide, a new committee has been established on which prisoners are represented. A buddy scheme has been set up and 24 free telephone access to the Samaritans has been provided. A new self harm policy is being drafted and women who need to be observed can now remain on general association. Two Cognitive Behavioural Therapy nurses were recruited in June from a local Health Trust to work with women prisoners.
	8. Installation of in-cell sanitation has begun in Beech House and the Service plans for the women prisoners to move there early next year, while facilities are being installed in the cells at Ash House. In the meantime, women have access to lavatories on request.
	Notwithstanding these improvements, the Prison Service recognises that Ash House may not be the most suitable long-term option to house women prisoners and alternative accommodation is being considered as part of the Service's on-going strategic development programme. This is designed to map out the way forward for the next 10–15 years. It will also examine the feasibility of housing long term women prisoners separately from short term women prisoners.
	In the meantime, the Prison Service will continue to work, in partnership with others in the public, private and voluntary sectors, and with women in custody to improve its performance further. Indeed, the Human Rights Commission has been given access to Ash House—to the facilities and to the women who want to be interviewed—to monitor the current situation independently.
	However, this issue is not something for the Prison Service alone. Many agencies and the community as a whole have a role to play in ensuring that support measures are in place to reduce the likelihood of vulnerable women ending up in custody and to cater for the reintegration and resettlement needs of those sent to prison.

Influenza Vaccination

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what recent steps he has taken to promote the influenza vaccination among Northern Ireland's elderly population.

Shaun Woodward: The launch of the annual influenza immunisation programme on 3 October attracted a considerable amount of TV and press coverage, and this was followed by an advertising campaign inviting elderly and other at risk patients to catch the vaccine not the flu". Most GPs will issue personal invitations to their elderly patients to come for the vaccination.
	In addition a supply of leaflets about the benefits of immunisation have been distributed to all GP practices, libraries, pharmacies, residential and nursing homes. Translink are involved in the campaign displaying posters, promoting the flu programme, on their vehicles.

Maritime Safety

Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many deaths due to drowning on the coasts around Northern Ireland there have been in each of the last 10 years.

Angela Smith: The following table gives the number of deaths registered in Northern Ireland, for each year between 1995 and 2004, due to drownings 1 outside the home. It is not possible to say where these drownings occurred.
	1 International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision codes V90, W69, W70, W73, W74, X71, X92, and Y21 for years 2001–2004 and Ninth Revision codes E830, E832, E910, E954, E964, and E984 for years 1995–2000.
	
		Number of deaths registered in Northern Ireland due to drownings outside the home, 1995–2004
		
			 Registration year Number of deaths 
		
		
			 1995 36 
			 1996 33 
			 1997 36 
			 1998 30 
			 1999 23 
			 2000 18 
			 2001 24 
			 2002 24 
			 2003 25 
			 2004(44) 22 
		
	
	(44)Data for 2004 is provisional.

PPPs

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many public-private partnerships there have been in Northern Ireland over the last five years, broken down by (a) Westminster parliamentary constituency and (b) district council area.

Angela Smith: The information is set out in the following tables.
	
		(a) By Westminster parliamentary constituency
		
			  Belfast, West Belfast, South Foyle Mid Ulster Lagan Valley Fermanagh and South Tyrone NI wide 
		
		
			 2000 (45)3 (45)2 — — — — — 
			 2001 1 — — — — — 2 
			 2002 — — — — — — 2 
			 2003 — 1 — 1 — 1 2 
			 2004 — 1 — — 1 — — 
			 2005 — — 1 — — — — 
		
	
	(45)Two projects in the education sector relate to the provision of facilities which are each located in two different parliamentary constituencies
	
		(b) By district council area
		
			  Belfast City Derry City Omagh Dungannon Lisburn NI wide 
		
		
			 2000 3 — — — — — 
			 2001 1 — — — — 2 
			 2002 — — — — — 2 
			 2003 1 — 1 1  2 
			 2004 1 — — — 1 — 
			 2005 — 1 — — — —

Protected Elective Procedures

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many protected elective procedures have been performed at Lagan Valley and South Tyrone Hospitals in the last year for which figures are available.

Shaun Woodward: The protected elective unit at Lagan Valley hospital carried out 876 protected elective procedures in the financial year 2004–05. South Tyrone hospital carried out 4,030 protected elective procedures in 2004–05.

PSNI

Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many officers there are in the Police Service of Northern Ireland at the rank of (a) assistant chief constable, (b) chief superintendent, (c) superintendent, (d) chief inspector, (e) sergeant, (f) constable and (g) reserve constable full-time.

Shaun Woodward: The actual full-time equivalent strength as at 12 October 2005 are as follows (includes student officers and secondments):
	
		Actual full-time equivalent strength
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 Assistant Chief Constable 6 
			 Chief Superintendent 24 
			 Superintendent 76 
			 Chief Inspector 97.5 
			 Inspector 416 
			 Sergeant 1,104.75 
			 Constable 5,723 
			 Full-time Reserve 1,149.75

Retail Planning Policy

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when does he plans to publish the Review of Retail Planning Policy.

Angela Smith: The Minister of State's (Lord Rooker) decision to approve a major retail development at Sprucefield is currently the subject of applications for Judicial Review. He subsequently issued a Press Release on 18 August announcing that he would be monitoring developments in respect of those applications in deciding the timing and content of Draft PPS 5.
	Retailing is a very complex area of policy, and it is important to monitor developments in order to produce a robust document.

Retail Planning Policy

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when did the consultation on the Review of Retail Planning Policy commence.

Angela Smith: The review of Retailing Planning Policy has not yet been the subject of public consultation.

Registered Child Carers

Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many registered (a) day nurseries, (b) childminders, (c) playgroups and (d) out of school clubs there are in Northern Ireland.

Shaun Woodward: At 31 March 2004 (the latest date for which such data are available), there were 226 registered day nurseries, 3,950 registered childminders, 608 registered playgroups and 250 registered out of school clubs in Northern Ireland.

Pulmonary Hypertension

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many pulmonary hypertension sufferers in Northern Ireland are receiving treatment which includes use of the drug Cialis.

Shaun Woodward: Hospital information systems indicate that 215 patients received in-patient treatment for primary pulmonary hypertension in Northern Ireland hospitals during 2004–05. In addition to these, a number of patients with pulmonary hypertension are treated at out-patient clinics and in primary care. Information on the number of these patients is not held centrally, nor is information held regarding the types of treatment or drug therapies which in-patients or out-patients receive.